Life through a shared 19th-day pandemic may make our brains age faster, even without infection.
According to a new published study Natural CommunicationsResearchers at the University of Nottingham found measurable signs of brain aging in healthy adults who have experienced the pandemic, whether they suffer from 19 years of age or not.
Using MRI scans from nearly 1,000 participants, the researchers compared brain images taken before and after the pandemic with brain images from a fully scanned control group. Even among participants who never tested positive for the virus, the scan indicated that brain aging exceeded usual expectations.
The pandemic has exposed it not only an infection, but also a change in brain health
The team developed a machine learning model that trains from over 15,000 healthy individuals to estimate the “brain era”. They found:
- After the pandemic begins, people who scan the brain will accelerate brain aging on average.
- This effect is most evident among older people, males and people from backgrounds of socioeconomic deprivation.
- People with Covid-19, who are only 19 years old, show corresponding cognitive decline.
- Observed brain aging may be reversible over time and improved conditions.
“What surprised me the most was that even people without Covid showed a significant increase in the rate of brain aging,” said lead author Dr. Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad.
The hidden costs of stress, inequality and crisis
Senior author Dorothee Auer stressed that these findings highlight the impact of daily experience on brain health: “The pandemic has put stress on people’s lives, especially those who are already facing disadvantage.”
In most cases, the acceleration of brain aging is not associated with direct viral damage, but with psychological and social stressors such as isolation, anxiety, and routine disruption. This effect is particularly evident in individuals with low income or low education backgrounds, whose brain aging rate is six months faster than their superior peers.
Cognitive effects are limited to infected people
Although the pandemic itself seems to have accelerated the brain’s aging structurally, only individuals contracting for Covid-19 can show measurable decline in cognitive function. They performed poorly on tests of psychological flexibility and processing speed, such as Trail production tests.
Why this matters
This study shows that even without infection, large-scale destruction can affect the brain and have potential long-term health effects. However, the authors stress that these effects may be reversible and that addressing social and health inequality can help protect brain health in future crises.
Magazine: Natural Communications
doi: 10.1038/S41467-025-61033-4
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