Adolescent brains aged three to four years during the pandemic due to stress and other factors. This is according to a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University and published in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, which alluded to the physical deterioration of certain parts of the brain.
The study was conducted on the brains of 163 young people. It compared MRI scans of the brains before and after the pandemic. In about half of them, researchers saw signs of aging typical of children suffering from violence or neglect. They plan to follow up with the subjects to assess their brain development in the future.
The study's lead author and professor of psychology at Stanford University, Ian Gotlib, said the pandemic wreaked havoc on the adolescent brain:
The pandemic has not been kind to adolescent mental health. It’s always interesting to do research like this when you’re not really sure what’s going to happen. These effects are interesting and happened pretty quickly.
How did the pandemic affect the brain?
In the example of a 16-year-old teenager, the researchers determined that her brain more closely resembled that of a 19- or 20-year-old. One notable effect was the enlargement of the hippocampus, the section of the brain associated with memory and learning. The amygdala, which processes emotions, was also enlarged.
In addition, the study points out that young people were more likely to suffer from severe episodes of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
