Premature Aging in Teenage Brains

By: Enzo Bunag ‘25 Contributor

While it is already wellknown that the pandemic induced more widespread levels of anxiety, depression, and mental health-related issues within teenagers, a study by Stanford University indicates that the pandemic also induced physiological changes, particularly premature aging, in teenage brains.

The findings were part of a larger longitudinal study, a type of study conducted over many years that monitors the same individuals and detects changes. In this study, beginning almost a decade ago,

128 teenagers and adolescents received MRI scans of their brains every two years; however, the lockdown caused by the pandemic in 2020 interrupted the study and MRI scans.

Once lockdown orders were revoked and society began to return to normalcy, the same teenagers began to continue the study in March of 2022. Scientists compared these new scans with previous scans of the same teenagers, and found various physiological changes indicating premature brain aging. For instance, the scans indicated thickening in the hip- pocampus, which relates to memory, and the amygdala, which regulates emotions. The scans indicated thinning in the cortices – which deals with the functioning of emotions – of the teenagers’ brains as well. All of these factors are associated with brain aging, and although such processes are natural, they appeared 3-4 years earlier than they were supposed to within these teenagers’ brains (the average age of the teenagers was 16).

Unfortunately, premature brain aging is not a beneficial process for an individual. Premature brain aging has been observed before, often leading to various mental healthrelated issues such as anxiety and depression. Although the cause of this phenomenon is unclear, researchers believe stress resulting from the pandemic likely caused these changes. Thus, it seems that this study may provide a link between brain structure and the subsequent mental health plummet that occurred in the pandemic.

This study reinforces that mental health, anxiety, and depression from the pandemic are real issues affecting teenagers, even after the return to normalcy.

If you or anyone else you know is struggling with mental health, never be afraid to contact the right resources. Resources for mental health can be found here: https:// ymhproject.org/resources/.