Is Faster Brain Aging the Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

What does it mean to age not just in years, but also in terms of brain health? Can stress, isolation, and global upheaval leave their mark on people’s minds? A new study led by experts at the University of Nottingham has found that the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated brain aging in people, even if they never contracted the virus. The findings, published in Nature Communications, showed that people who lived through the COVID-19 pandemic show signs of faster brain aging over time than those who were assessed entirely before the pandemic.

The changes were most pronounced in older people, men, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Only participants who were infected with COVID-19 between their scans showed a decline in certain cognitive abilities, such as mental flexibility and processing speed. This could suggest that the effects of the pandemic on brain aging alone (without infection) may not cause symptoms. In addition, the authors emphasize that the brain aging observed could be reversible.

COVID-19 and Mental Health

The study was conducted by a team of experts from the university’s medical school and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and the Medical Research Council (MRC) DEMISTIFI program. Dr. Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad led the study and said, “What surprised me most was that even people who had not been ill with COVID showed a significant increase in brain aging. This really shows how much the experience of the pandemic itself, from isolation to uncertainty, may have affected our brain health.”

The research team examined longitudinal brain scans of nearly 1,000 healthy adults enrolled in the UK Biobank study. Some participants were scanned before and after the pandemic, while others were scanned only before the pandemic. Using state-of-the-art imaging and machine learning, the researchers estimated each person’s “brain age” – that is, the age their brain appeared to be compared to their actual age. The brain age model was developed using brain scans from over 15,000 healthy individuals with no comorbidities, allowing the researchers to create an accurate model for estimating brain age. “This study reminds us that brain health is shaped not only by disease, but also by our daily environment,” said Dorothee Auer, professor of neuroimaging and senior author of the study. “The pandemic has taken a toll on people’s lives, especially those who are already disadvantaged. We cannot yet test whether the changes observed will be reversible, but it is entirely possible, and that is an encouraging thought.”

Effects of the Pandemic on Hearing

Tinnitus is usually described as a “ringing” in the ears, although no external sound can be heard. It can also be perceived as a humming, hissing, buzzing, or rushing sound. Worldwide, about 30 percent of people suffer from it at some point in their lives. Many people who have been affected by COVID-19 have noticed changes in their sense of smell and taste, their sense of balance, and in some cases tinnitus. The various causes of tinnitus include stress, including tension, anxiety, and depression. However, it is unclear whether the psychological effects of the pandemic, such as stress, have actually exacerbated tinnitus and its effects.

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University, the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, and the University of Cambridge conducted a study that looked at the potential indirect effects of COVID-19 on the experience of tinnitus. They investigated whether the severity of tinnitus, as measured by loudness, annoyance, and impact on life, was affected by the lockdown associated with the pandemic. Although COVID-19 has turned so many aspects of social life upside down, there is at least some good news when it comes to tinnitus. The results do not support the assumption that the pandemic has led to a worsening of the loudness, annoyance, or impact of tinnitus on life, and the average scores did not differ significantly between the groups surveyed before and during lockdown. Changes in mental well-being or stress caused by the lockdown did not have a significant impact on the assessment of tinnitus severity.