“The pandemic was dramatic and unexpected, of course, but dramatic and catastrophic in a way, not only for physical health, but mental health,” said lead researcher Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington.
Covid lockdowns, such as school closures, canceled sports activities and stay-at-home orders, prematurely aged teen brains by as much as four years, researchers from the University of Washington found.
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Lead researcher Patricia Kuhl, co-director of I-LABS, said that after Covid lockdowns began in 2020, they couldn’t do brain scan follow-ups until 2021. So they shifted the focus of the study to learn how the lockdowns had affected adolescent brain structure.