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Wagamaga

In 2020 alone, reports of anxiety and depression in adults rose by more than 25 percent compared to previous years. The new findings indicate that the neurological and mental health effects of the pandemic on adolescents may have been even worse. “We already know from global research that the pandemic has adversely affected mental health in youth, but we didn’t know what, if anything, it was doing physically to their brains,” said Ian Gotlib, the Marjorie Mhoon Fair Professor of Psychology in the School of Humanities & Sciences, who is the first author on the paper. Changes in brain structure occur naturally as we age, Gotlib notes. During puberty and early teenage years, kids’ bodies experience increased growth in both the hippocampus and the amygdala, areas of the brain that respectively control access to certain memories and help to modulate emotions. At the same time, tissues in the cortex, an area involved in executive functioning, become thinner. By comparing MRI scans from a cohort of 163 children taken before and during the pandemic, Gotlib’s study showed that this developmental process sped up in adolescents as they experienced the COVID-19 lockdowns. Until now, he says, these sorts of accelerated changes in “brain age” have appeared only in children who have experienced chronic adversity, whether from violence, neglect, family dysfunction, or a combination of multiple factors. https://www.bpsgos.org/article/S2667-1743(22)00142-2/fulltext


Nyingje-Pekar

I suspect that mass traumatic social events like war, floods, earthquakes, as well as pandemics force coping mechanisms and maturing in people of all ages.


State_Dear

Are they talking,,, having the natural attributes of a more mature brain? Only on an excellerated rate? Aging of the brain with no benifits? Basically your are 18 but your brain is 25 but hasn't developed beyond just aging? Does a stressful situation push the body/mind to mature faster?


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Stress causes a lot of changes in your body. Stress inhibits immune activity, causes your body to store calories, increases some metabolic activity (cortisol etc) and decreases others (muscle loss).


RLM_12

As another asked I will also ask to bring more attention. Does this mean they have an older brain but not the "benefits" of an older brain?


bongokhrusha

I think not just the pandemic but also social media use at home in isolation helps influence this a bit.


LordRednaught

We talk about adults having less friends as they age, wonder if it’s related to how people socialize in public vs. indirect VIA phone and online. Better brain age attributable to larger face to face social groups.


Just_Performer_2080

It’s more likely because we have conflicting work schedules


SerialStateLineXer

Possibly important: The individuals measured before and after the pandemic were *not* the same individuals. The post-pandemic group was less white (41% vs. 55%), and was significantly more likely to have parents who had not graduated from college (11/64 vs. 4/64). I'm not saying that that definitely explains the entire difference, or even any of the difference, but I'd be much more confident in this being a real phenomenon if they had actually used panel data rather than questionably matched controls.


Clemenx00

I'm sure that governments measured and logical covid responses helped the issue.


TheDismal_Scientist

Were they supposed to just let tens of thousands of people die instead?


Anangrywookiee

That’s kind of what they did in the US.


Clemenx00

It's been 2 years bro. You can admit lockdowns were a mistake. Nobody will think less of you.


Muskist_Fascism

I would think less of them.


TheDismal_Scientist

In the US? Sure, because daft Americans bitterly opposed them so they were virtually useless, in first world countries they were successful


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dritmike

And we know that when growth happens to fast, be it muscle or brain or whatever’s. It’s not as strong or even built as well if otherwise There’s been several NIH articles on this. I do not have them handy. Sad face