Have our brains aged faster because of the COVID-19, even without infection? “You have to be very careful”

Here are the unpleasant. Therefore, painful symptoms of the new variant of the COVVI-19: “It risks becoming dominant”

An imprint of collective stress? – Have our brains aged faster – Have our brains aged faster new

These results do not only point the virus. Nevertheless, For researchers. Therefore. In addition. Similarly, this brain transformation could also be linked to the upheavals caused by pandemic: social isolation, prolonged stress, drop in physical activity, bad eating habits or increase in alcohol consumption. Consequently, So many factors well known to affect the brain. However, “”What these results suggest is that the pandemic could affect cerebral health both by its direct biological effects. For example. Moreover. Meanwhile, by the psychosocial repercussions induced by stress and upheavals of everyday life, without being only attributable to the virus itself have our brains aged faster new “explains Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad, one of the authors of the have our brains aged faster new study.

A shared opinion but nuanced by Marc Dhenain. Similarly, CNRS research director at the have our brains aged faster neurodegenerative disease laboratory at the University of Paris-Saclay. questioned by Le Figaro : “You have to be very careful. because the morphological changes of the brain detected by the algorithm can resemble those that are observed during aging without necessarily translating an aging in the biological sense of the term. “

Five years ago burst the pandemic of COVID-19: to know everything about our series

Grave cases more affected

In patients who have been infected. the study observes a clearer link between accelerated brain aging and lessened cognitive performance. Other research, such as a 2024 study published in Nature Medicinego in the same direction. In former patients in his fifty years. have our brains aged faster new hospitalized for a severe Cavid. it revealed a reduction in the volume of gray matter. have our brains aged faster new an increase in neural lesions as well as a drop in cognitive performance, one year after their leaving the hospital. The impact have our brains aged faster on their brain was equivalent to twenty years of aging.

But then again. researchers remain cautious: “To date. no consensus exists on the ability of the virus to cross the blood-brain barrier (Editor’s note: a protective structure that filters substances between blood. the brain) to reach the brain tissue. The mechanisms remain uncertain. Additionally, the hypothesis of systematic neuro-invasion is still highly speculative “explains Marc Dhenain to our French colleagues.

Five years ago. Additionally. the COVVID made its first victim in Belgium

Still vague consequences

Specialists recall that the brain is a complex organ. that changes in its have our brains aged faster new structure or functioning can have several causes, often overlooked.

Of ten cognitive tests carried out as part of have our brains aged faster new the British study. only one showed a significant difference in infected people. “”This could be explained by the fact that a change in brain age does not have our brains aged. faster necessarily induce cognitive symptoms. at least in the short term “, explains Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad. “It would be very interesting to redo IRM to the same participants. for example in five to ten years, in order to explore possible long -term consequences “. It will take time.. other MRI examinations in the years to come. to assess the lasting impact of this particular period on our mental health.