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Effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns -

The effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on the global population were profound. But the pandemic's impact on teenagers was especially harmful.

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Wave of depression -

In the United States alone, nearly 20% of those aged 12 to 17 had a major depressive episode in 2022. That's according to data published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

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Mental health issues -

Numerous studies have documented reports of teenagers struggling with their mental health and social lives during lockdown.

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Lonely and isolated -

School closures, canceled sports activities, deferred exam schedules, and stay-at-home orders all contributed towards feelings of isolation and loneliness.

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Negative mindset -

Sadness and depression, coupled with disruptions to daily routines, likely contributed towards behavioral problems, eating disorders, and the adoption of a negative mindset.

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Brain maturation -

But a new study suggests that those phenomena caused some adolescents' brains to age much faster than they normally would.

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How the teenage brain changed structurally -

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), found that the pandemic may have changed the teenage brain structurally.

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Female brains aged faster -

What's more, the findings indicated that, on average, some adolescent female brains aged 4.2 years faster during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

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Unusual acceleration -

This is compared with 1.4 years older for adolescent males. But what are the reasons for this unusually accelerated brain maturation, and why the discrepancy between males and females?

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The 2018 L-LABS study -

Scientists at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) in Washington, D.C., began the study in 2018 using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

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Teenaged participants -

The study group comprised 160 teenagers, and the idea was to see how their brain structure developed over time. The participants, a nearly equal number of boys and girls, ranged in age from nine to 19.

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Lockdown shuts down study -

However, after lockdown began in 2020, researchers at I-LABS were unable to conduct brain scan follow-ups until 2021. Instead, they shifted the focus of the study to learn how the lockdowns had affected adolescent brain structure.

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New MRI scans -

The delay caused by the pandemic meant that participants were now aged between ages 12 and 22. After collecting new MRI scans and comparing them with those made in 2018, the team were shocked by what they found out.

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Cortical thinning -

Compared with pre-pandemic brain development, these latest scans showed signs of accelerated cortical thinning in one area of the boys' brains, and in 30 of the girls' brains, across both hemispheres and all lobes.

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Areas of brain impacted -

Further study revealed that the regions impacted in the female brains were all a part of social-emotional processing, compared to two regions in teen boys, ones involved in visual processing.

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Widespread changes -

Scientists deduced that the changes in female brains were widespread, with many affected areas underpinning social cognition with roles in processing emotions, interpreting facial expressions, and language comprehension.

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The role played by stress -

Researchers speculated that stress played a role in the brains' accelerated aging.

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Why teenage girls were more affected -

This hypothesis is based on the fact that teen girls, who are more apt to socialize emotionally with peers and far more dependent on the social scene than boys for their well-being, experienced the structural brain changes of the lockdown more dramatically.

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Unique results -

While other researchers have linked premature brain aging to the pandemic, the I-LABS study is unique in that it's the first to reveal stark differences between boys and girls.

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"Pandemic brains" -

What the research doesn't prove, however, is that the lockdowns alone caused the brain changes—mental health disorders were rising among children even before COVID, reports NBC News.

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The "cortex connection" -

But the study does suggest that the thinning of the cortex can be connected to increased anxiety, depression, and other behavioral disorders.

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Long-term development -

So, if COVID-19 structurally changed the teenage brain, the question now being asked is how that might affect teens' long-term development.

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Reasons for premature cortical thinning -

Premature cortical thinning is linked to early life adversity, trauma or serious conditions like neglect or war, for example, and a greater risk of neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Unnatural development -

While some cortical thinning is natural and an important part of brain maturation and specialization, the study is a clear indication that there's maturation, but not in a positive way, notes the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences.

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The pandemic's effects on teenage lifestyle -

The pandemic exposed many teenagers to higher than average stress levels, meaning that their brains were exposed to stress hormones at a significant level.

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Thinner cortex -

This, in turn, prompted the cortex to get thinner and thinner in areas that vary by gender.

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Conclusions -

It's not clear whether these effects on the brain are permanent, researchers admit. What the findings do demonstrate is that early adolescence can be a very fragile and unpredictable period for many teenagers.

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Risks to mental health remain -

It's important, therefore, to acknowledge that while the pandemic is largely over, the effects of the stress of the pandemic are still there for children and adolescents, reminds Ian H. Gotlib, a professor of psychology at Stanford University.

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Living in a post-pandemic world -

Similarly, Elizabeth Ortiz-Schwartz, a child psychiatrist based in Connecticut and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, maintains that it's vital teenagers are made to feel safe in a post-pandemic world. "We need to continue to do the best that we can to create environments where [teens] feel supported," she said, speaking to Fortune.

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Further study required -

In the wake of I-LABS' findings, all involved in this particular field of research agree that further study in accelerated brain maturation in adolescents and its long-term impact is now key. 

Sources: (The Guardian) (Fortune) (CNN) (I-LABS) (SAMHSA) (PNAS) (NBC News) (Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences)

See also: COVID-19 is here to stay—variant XEC emerges globally

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