Recent study shows teens' brains age prematurely during pandemic
Stanford University research: Teens' brains age prematurely in pandemic. "May have serious consequences"
Scientists from Stanford University in the USA have revealed that the brains of young people age faster than normal due to the stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The research team said this could have "serious consequences" later in the lives of young people. Adolescents' brains change as they enter adulthood. Some regions are becoming larger and more developed than others. This process occurs faster than normal in children who are suffering from situations that can cause extreme stress, such as violence or abuse.
Recent study shows teens' brains age prematurely during pandemic
Stanford experts initially aimed to examine depression in adolescence in the aforementioned study. However, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the work, it was moved to another subject. In the study, MR scans obtained before and after the pandemic of 163 young people living in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA, were analyzed. The findings, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Biological Psychiatry, showed that the brain ages prematurely during the pandemic.
It has been determined that the hippocampus and amygdala, regions of the brain that both control access to certain memories and regulate emotions such as fear and stress, are enlarged. It was also observed that cortical tissues related to executive functions were thinned.
One of the authors of the study, Prof. Ian Gotlib said, "We already knew that the pandemic negatively affects the mental health of young people, thanks to research conducted around the world. However, we did not know the physical effect on their brains." Such changes have hitherto appeared in children with 'chronic distress'. Psychologist Gotlib said it is not known what the long-term consequences of these changes might be and whether they can be improved.
Jonas Miller, one of the authors of the article, underlined that the changes can have "serious consequences" in the later lives of young people. "This is a good start," said psychiatrist David Fassler, who commented on the study. Fassler added that the findings will affect future research on the subject.
