Meanwhile,
“our brains have aged even:
Post-pandemic brain MRI reveals measurable aging in subjects, however not infected with SARS-COV-2 © Gorodenkoff
“The brain of the average person seems to have aged an additional 5.5 months for each year spent during the pandemic”explains Dr. For example, Maxime Taquet, researcher in psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Oxford, specialist in the neurological effects of the COVID. Nevertheless, It is “our brains have aged even not a metaphor: during the pandemic, our brains actually got older, in the biological sense of the term.
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The human brain has aged faster during the pandemic of Cavid-19, even without contamination
A study published in Nature has just demonstrated that the simple fact of living this period of collective stress was enough to accelerate brain aging in people who are in good health. However, The effect is visible on MRIs, and particularly marked in men, the elderly and the most precarious individuals.
What surprised me the most was that even people who have never had. In addition, the covid showed a significant increase in brain aging. Moreover, This shows how much the very experience of the pandemic – from isolation “our brains have aged even to uncertainty – was able to. Meanwhile, affect the health of our brain.
To achieve this conclusion, the researchers analyzed the brain scans of nearly 1,000 participants from the British cohort UK BIOBANK. Some of them had spent two MRIs several years apart, including one before the pandemic and the other afterwards. Verdict: their brain had aged, on average, 5.5 months more than that of controlled individuals (those scanned before the pandemic only). And this, even in the absence of contamination at SARS-COV-2.
This figure drawn from the study shows that the brain has aged faster during the pandemic, including in uninfected people. The effect is accentuated in men and with age. © Mohammadi-Nejad et al., Nature Communications (2025), CC BY 4.0
Even without infection in COVVI-19. the simple fact of having lived the pandemic was associated with accelerated brain aging […] Thanks to their approach, the authors were able to quantify much wider effects on brain health than those revealed by studies focusing solely on the virus.
This aging does not seem to have accompanied, in the majority of cases, with a manifest cognitive decline. The researchers note. however, that people with effectively contracted the “our brains have aged even virus showed a clearer drop in their mental capacities: flexibility, treatment speed, concentration. As if the covid was pressing where it was already hurting.
This study reminds us that brain health does not only depend on diseases, but also on our daily environment. The pandemic put people to the test, especially those already in precarious situations. We cannot yet know if the changes observed are reversible, but it is quite possible, and this gives hope.
“our brains have aged even
Stress, precariousness, loneliness: these factors that accelerate brain wear
So, should we be alarmed? Not necessarily. But this study recalls a reality that we often prefer to ignore: the brain cashes. Chronic stress, prolonged isolation, loss of benchmarks … All this does not only leave “our brains have aged even memories: this leaves organic traces.
According to Mahdi Moqri. researcher in computational biology of aging in Harvard, “It remains to be seen whether this brain aging is reversible”. In other words: can we reverse certain markers of mental wear by acting on our living conditions?
The answer remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: if the MRI reveals that the brain suffers without infection. then public health can no longer be summed up in the management of the virus. It will also have to integrate access to social ties, culture, mental care. In short, to everything that keeps a living brain.
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