The COVID-19 pandemic may have aged our brains faster—even if we were never infected with the virus—according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Nottingham.
The study, published in Nature Communications, looked at how living through the pandemic may have affected brain health, especially in older adults, men, and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The researchers found that people scanned after the pandemic began showed signs of faster brain aging compared to those scanned only before the pandemic.
These changes didn’t necessarily cause symptoms, but they were clear in brain imaging.
Interestingly, only those who were infected with COVID-19 between scans showed noticeable declines in cognitive functions like processing speed and mental flexibility.
This suggests that while COVID infection itself may impact thinking abilities, simply living through the stress and disruption of the pandemic might have affected brain structure—even without obvious symptoms. Still, the researchers say there’s hope.
The brain changes seen in this study may not be permanent and could potentially reverse over time.
Dr. Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad, who led the research, said he was surprised by the results. “Even people who hadn’t had COVID showed signs of faster brain aging,” he explained. “It shows how powerful the overall experience of the pandemic—things like isolation, stress, and uncertainty—can be on our mental and brain health.”
The study used brain scans from nearly 1,000 healthy adults who were part of the UK Biobank project. Some had brain scans taken both before and after the pandemic began, giving researchers a unique chance to see changes over time.
To assess how much the brain had aged, the team used machine learning to estimate each person’s “brain age”—a number that reflects how old their brain looks compared to their actual age.
To build this brain age model, the researchers first trained it on data from over 15,000 healthy people with no known health problems. This helped them make more accurate estimates when analyzing changes related to the pandemic.
Professor Dorothee Auer, a senior author of the study, said the results are a reminder that brain health is shaped by more than just disease. “The pandemic took a toll on people’s daily lives, especially for those who were already disadvantaged. While we don’t know yet if these brain changes will reverse, it’s certainly possible.”
Professor Stamatios Sotiropoulos, another lead author, added that having access to brain scans taken before and after the pandemic provided a rare opportunity to study how major life events can impact the brain. The researchers hope their findings will raise awareness about the importance of mental and brain health in the face of global stress.
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