New research reveals accelerated brain aging in healthy adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting broader neurological and social effects.
COVID-19 virus
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The COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated brain aging in healthy adults, even among those who were never infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to findings from a new longitudinal neuroimaging study published in Nature Communications. Using UK Biobank data, researchers found an average increase of 5.5 months in the brain age gap, the difference between predicted brain age and chronological age, among participants scanned before and after the pandemic.
Researchers trained brain age prediction models on MRI data from more than 15,000 healthy individuals. They then compared 2 cohorts: 996 participants who received both scans before the pandemic (control group) and those scanned once before and once after its onset (pandemic group). Despite similar baseline health and brain age markers, the pandemic group showed significantly accelerated brain aging.
The effect was most pronounced in men and individuals from lower-income backgrounds, suggesting that psychosocial stressors such as isolation, financial instability, and disrupted health care access may have contributed. Although accelerated brain aging was observed across the pandemic group, cognitive declines were more common in those who had contracted COVID-19.
Lead author Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad and colleagues stressed that the findings highlight the pandemic’s broader neurological toll. “This goes beyond the virus itself,” they noted, urging greater attention to cognitive health in recovery and public health planning.
The study adds to a growing body of evidence linking infectious diseases to long-term neurological consequences. Previous research has shown that Lyme disease, a tick-borne bacterial infection, can lead to lasting cognitive and neurological symptoms in some patients, including memory impairment, brain fog, and mood disturbances.
Listen to our past interview with Robert C. Bransfield, MD, on "Microbial Infections and Mental Illness: Bridging Psychiatry and Infectious Disease" to explore how groundbreaking research uncovers the hidden connections between infectious pathogens and serious psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The pandemic environment accelerated brain aging by an average of 5.5 months, even in those never infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Cognitive decline was most pronounced in individuals who contracted COVID-19, particularly among men and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Long-term neurological monitoring and integrated mental health care are critical for addressing post-pandemic brain health challenges.
Another way COVID-19 has affected neurological health is through long COVID, a condition that causes persistent cognitive symptoms such as brain fog and memory difficulties in many survivors. Long COVID affects about 1 in 5 Americans and 1 in 10 patients with COVID-19, presenting a complex and often underreported condition that affects multiple body systems, especially the brain, leading to cognitive issues including brain fog and declines in IQ, even after mild infections. Diagnosis remains challenging due to the lack of specific biomarkers, and treatment is not one-size-fits-all; instead, management focuses on individualized care tailored to each patient’s symptoms. Although research has advanced our understanding of long COVID’s prevalence and neurological effects, many questions about its underlying mechanisms, patient susceptibility, and recovery trajectories remain unanswered, underscoring the urgent need for continued research and improved diagnostic tools.
Listen to our Roundtable from last fall featuring 3 clinicians, "A Deep Dive: Understanding the Neurological Toll of Long COVID," in which a panel of expert physicians explores the cognitive, diagnostic, and treatment challenges of long COVID, revealing its widespread impact and the urgent need for continued research and individualized care.
Together, these findings suggest that global infectious disease events can have lingering impacts on brain health, regardless of direct infection. Experts say the results underscore the need for long-term neurological monitoring, better integration of mental health care, and continued investment in research on postinfectious cognitive outcomes.
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