This article was published by Conversation.

Thanks to MRI data, Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle showed that the usual age-related thinning of the cortex – the folded surface – of adolescent brains accelerated after lockdowns and the effect was greater in the female brain than in the male brain.

What should we think of these results?

Science shows the crucial importance of adolescence for the brain. The noticeably different behavior of adolescents is due in large part to the immaturity of their cerebral cortex. During adolescence, important changes take place to allow the brain to reach maturity. One of these very important changes is the thinning of the cortex.

A revolutionary article in 2022, was the first evidence that, during adolescence, there is a critical period of brain “plasticity” (malleability) in the frontal region of the brain – the area of ​​the brain responsible for thinking, decision-making, short-term memory and control of brain activity. social behavior.

Given the sensitivity of brain development during adolescence, is it possible that pandemic lockdowns have actually accelerated harmful brain aging in adolescents? And how strong is the evidence that this was due to the lockdowns and not something else?

To answer the first question, we need to understand that aging and development are two sides of the same coin. They are inextricably linked. On the one hand, biological aging is the progressive decline in the functioning of the body’s cells, tissues and systems. On the other hand, development is the process by which we reach maturity.

Adverse conditions at critical periods of our lives, particularly during adolescence, are very likely to influence our aging trajectory. It is therefore plausible that the “accelerated maturation” of the cerebral cortex in adolescents is an age-related change that will affect the rate of brain aging throughout life.

So there seems to be an unpleasant and much more serious conclusion: the reported accelerated maturation – although serious enough – does not constitute a one-off harm. This could well lead to unwanted brain aging well beyond adolescence.

Now let’s move on to the second question: the role, if any, of lockdowns…

Professor James Goodwinan expert in the physiology of aging, discusses a study that found COVID-related lockdowns affected adolescents’ brain structures in a new Conversation article.

Read the full article on the Conversation website.

Notes to editors

Press release reference number: 24/203