2024-09-10 07:27:00
I Lockdowns have been imposed during the Covid pandemicincluding the obligation to stay at home and the closing of schools, they have grown old with young minds too soon. Social restrictions accelerate their mental development, with an average acceleration of 4.2 years in women and 1.4 years in men. Is there Research findings from the University of Washington (UW), published in the journal ‘Pnas’ (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) and funded by the Bezos Family Foundation established by the parents of the former President and CEO of Amazon.
Covid and lockdown, impact on young people
“We think about the Covid-19 pandemic as a health crisis, but we know that it has caused other big changes in our lives, especially for young people,” said Patricia Kuhl, senior author of the work and co-director of the House – UW study. for Education & Psychological Sciences (I-Labs). It has been widely documented that during the Sars-CoV-2 emergency the disruption of daily activities and social activities produces a negative impact on the mental health of young people through increased anxiety, depression and stress, especially in girls. A new study now adds a new entry to the list of “side effects” of lockdown. The study began in 2018 on 160 young people aged 9 to 17, who aimed to analyze the changes that occur normally in the brain structure during adolescence. Scientists had planned to re-examine the participants in 2020, but the Covid pandemic delayed the trial until 2021, effectively changing the focus of the research.
More girls are affected by aging, why? The hypotheses
“We ask ourselves – said Neva Corrigan of I-Labs, the first author of the work – what opportunities will allow us to understand the impact of the pandemic lockdown on the brain, what it means for our young people not to out, to stay. home rather than with friends, at school or playing sports”. So researchers pay attention to the thickness of the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain tissue, which indicates the level of brain development: the thinner the cortex, the ‘older’ the brain. Based on data collected in 2018, scientists have developed a model of cortical thinning expected in adolescence. But when they reassessed the participants, 80% of them returned for the 2021 evaluations, they noticed that their brain had decreased more than expected. In general, but much more pronounced in women: the cerebral cortex of girls is thin everywhere, in all the lobes of both hemispheres, while in men the thinness only affects the visual cortex.
The cerebral cortex naturally thins with age and this also happens in young people, the authors point out. Chronic stress and distress are known to accelerate cortical thinning, which is associated with an increased risk of developing neuropsychiatric and behavioral disorders. Many of these problems, such as anxiety and depression, often appear during adolescence, and women are at higher risk. New research confirms this. Kuhl notes that the greater “lock-in effect” found in girls compared to boys may be due to the fact that women often rely more on social relationships, and feel a greater need to meet friends. to talk and share their feelings. Men, on the other hand, tend to gather mainly to do physical activity. Different needs on which epidemiologic isolation would have interfered differently.
“Young people – reasons Kuhl – are walking in the ocean, trying to put their lives together. They experience great pressure” already in the core. “Then a global pandemic hits and their normal channels of stress relief disappear, while there’s social pressure because of social media. With Covid all young people are isolated, but girls have suffered more. Isolation has affected their brain much more. ”
Irreversible damage?
Irreversible damage? Researchers don’t know yet. For Kuhl, it is unlikely that the cerebral cortex will thicken again, but recovery can occur with a reduction of cortical thinning over time, once peer interactions begin. To find out, new studies will be needed.
But what does it mean to have a cerebral cortex that has decreased in thickness too quickly? In older adults, the degree of cortical thinning correlates with measures of cognitive function such as processing speed and the ability to complete certain tasks, but in young people there is no data yet. This too will have to be understood. “The epidemic – concludes Kuhl – has been a test for the vulnerability of the young brain. Our research raises many questions about what it means to accelerate the process of aging in the brain”. These questions will need to be answered.
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