Teenagers’ brains were physically altered and aged at an accelerated rate during the COVID lockdowns, according to a Stanford University study published Thursday.

Researchers used MRI scans to study the brains of 163 adolescents in the San Francisco Bay Area who were already a part of a more intensive study “assessing the effects of early life stress on psychobiology across puberty.” The study found that 16-year-olds had more severe mental health problems, and their brains appeared “several years” older than 16-year-olds who were assessed before pandemic restrictions began.

“We already know from global research that the pandemic has adversely affected mental health in youth, but we didn’t know what, if anything, it was doing physically to their brains,” said Ian Gotlib, the first author of the paper and professor of Psychology in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

Children were especially affected by government-ordered lockdowns across the U.S. following the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. In the Bay Area, schools remained closed for over a year as students were forced to learn virtually from their homes. Finally, in the spring of 2021, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) offered parents the option of sending their children back to school in person. (Read more from “Teens’ Brains Were Physically ‘Altered,’ Aged by ‘Several Years’ During COVID Lockdowns: Study” HERE)

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