Covid-19 is said to have prematurely aged teenage brains
By Viola Spada
Edited by Olivia Ural
A study by The University of Washington, published the 9th September in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has discussed the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on teenage brain development.
Adolescence is characterised by significant shifts in social, behavioural, and emotional development This is the period where an individual's self-control, confidence, and identity are formed. It was found that teenagers' social engagement was decreased significantly by the pandemic, and were replaced by complaints of stress, worry, and sadness. This was found to be especially prevalent amongst women.
A recent study from the University of Washington discovered that the pandemic caused adolescents' brains to mature abnormally quickly. In girls, this maturation was more noticeable, where the mean acceleration was 1.4 years for males, and 4.2 years for females.
The cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of brain tissue, is used to assess the maturity of the brain. The cerebral cortex naturally thins with age, a process that has even been observed in teenage years. Struggle and prolonged stress have been shown to increase cortical thinning, which is linked to a higher risk of behavioural and neuropsychiatric problems. Adolescence is a common time for several of these disorders to manifest, including depression and anxiety.
The aim of the UW investigation, which was a longitudinal study in 2018 with 160 teenagers aged 9 to 17, was to assess how the structure of the brain changed during the course of a typical adolescence.
The pandemic caused the group's 2020 return date to be postponed until 2021. By then, it was too late to pursue the initial goal of researching average teen growth. Neva Corrigan, lead author and research scientist at I-LABS, said, "Once the pandemic was underway, we started to think about which brain measures would allow us to estimate what the pandemic lockdown had done to the brain. What did it mean for our teens to be at home rather than in their social groups?"
Researchers developed a model of predicted cortical thinning during adolescence using the data from 2018. The teenagers' brains were then re-examined. The teenagers' brains generally displayed an accelerated thinning effect, more notably in females. It was noted that cortical thinning effects were observed throughout the entire brain for women, while the effects were limited to the visual cortex in males. According to Kuhl, senior author and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, the impact on female brains is more pronounced than on males, likely from the increased value that they tend to place on relationships. This is evident by the emotional bonds they form with other girls, emphasising communication and emotional vulnerability. This behaviour is less commonly observed in teenage boys.
According to Kuhl, there is little chance that the cerebral cortex will thicken again. However, there is a chance that it will gradually reduce with reestablishing regular social interactions. Further investigation is necessary to determine the possibility that brain maturation remains accelerated in current teens. The degree of cerebral cortex thinning in older generations is correlated with measures of cognitive brain function, including processing speed and the ability to perform standard tasks. Although for current teens this type of data is not present, Kuhl noted that this could be the direction of future studies.
Work Cited
Kirschman, Lauren. “COVID-19 lockdowns prematurely aged teenage brains, study shows.” ScienceDaily, 9 September 2024, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240909160232.htm. Accessed 23 September 2024.
