New Study Highlights Accelerated Brain Aging in Teens Due to Pandemic Stressors
In a striking revelation, a new study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated brain aging in adolescents, with girls experiencing an average of 4.2 years and boys 1.4 years of accelerated development. This research underscores the profound impact the pandemic has had on the mental health and social lives of teenagers, as numerous studies have documented.
This recent study provides pivotal insights into the comparative effects of the pandemic on brain aging by gender, adding to the findings of two previous studies that explored accelerated brain aging among adolescents during the pandemic.
“The findings are an important wake-up call about the fragility of the teenage brain,” stated Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl, the senior study author and the Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning at the University of Washington. “Teens need our support now more than ever.”
Adolescence is a crucial period of socioemotional development, with significant changes occurring in brain structure and function. The researchers note that the thickness of the cerebral cortex typically peaks during childhood, gradually decreasing throughout adolescence and continuing to diminish over a person’s lifetime.
The team, originally set to track standard adolescent brain development starting with MRI scans in 2018, saw their timeline altered by the pandemic, delaying the follow-up scan by three to four years. This resulted in study participants aged between 12 and 20 in Washington state. Notably, those diagnosed with a developmental or psychiatric disorder or on psychotropic medications were excluded from the study.
To gauge the impact of the pandemic on adolescent brain development, researchers utilized pre-pandemic MRI data to establish a “normative model” reflecting how 68 brain regions typically develop during adolescence. The study’s authors equated this model to pediatric growth charts that track height and weight.
Findings reveal significant accelerated cortical thinning in the post-pandemic brains of girls, noted in 30 brain regions across both hemispheres and all lobes, while boys exhibited thinning in only two regions. The study reported that 43% of brain regions in girls showed thinning, compared to 6% in boys.
Dr. Max Wiznitzer, professor of pediatrics and neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, commented on the study’s contribution to existing knowledge: “It is not a major revelation, as the authors acknowledge, but does add to our understanding of the subject.”
However, the study is not without limitations, including that Dr. Kuhl served as both author and editor for the journal submission, which raises concerns regarding peer review oversight. Additionally, the research lacked a control group, compelling researchers to use normative modeling to approximate normal developmental results.
Further, Dr. Ian Gotlib, director of the Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Laboratory, stated, “The sample size may not be large enough to conclude that the observed sex difference in brain aging is a reliable finding.” Interestingly, his team also observed similar sex differences, though they lacked statistical significance due to a smaller sample size.
The study highlights that the brain regions most affected in girls are linked to social cognitive functions, while those in boys are associated with visual and object processing. The researchers propose that these changes may stem from the “stress acceleration hypothesis,” which suggests that heightened stress encourages earlier maturation to protect vital emotional circuits.
The long-term implications of these developmental changes remain unknown, with Kuhl remarking, “The brain does not recover and get thicker, but measures of recovery post-pandemic will be critical.” She indicated that the ability of teen brains to thin more slowly in the aftermath of the pandemic would serve as an indicator of any possible recovery.
Experts emphasize the importance of supporting young people’s mental health, advocating for activities that foster in-person connections, limiting social media use, and staying vigilant for behavioral changes.
“The pandemic is largely over, but its effects remain,” concluded Dr. Gotlib. Kuhl added, “A total return to ‘normal’ may never occur, reminding us of human fragility and the necessity of preparing for future pandemics.”
