Pandemic hit brain health of over-50s, study finds

Cognitive decline sped up regardless of whether people had caught Covid

- Andrew Gregory 

The pandemic caused sustained harm to the brain health of the over-50s, rapidly speeding up people’s cognitive decline regardless of whether they caught Covid, researchers have discovered.

Almost 780 million people were killed or made ill by Covid , according to the World Health Organization . Experts are now learning more about the indirect effects of the crisis.

A new study has found cognitive function and working memory in older adults declined more quickly during the first year of the pandemic from March 2020 to February 2021, even if they were not infected with the virus. The trend continued into 2021 -22, suggesting an impact beyond the initial lockdowns.

The research is the largest of its kind to link the pandemic conditions– and the lifestyle changes triggered by lockdowns and other Covid restrictions – to sustained cognitive decline.

The acceleration in cognitive decline was exacerbated by a number of factors after the arrival of Covid, the researchers said. These included an increase in loneliness and depression, a fall in exercise and higher alcohol consumption, as well as the effects of the disease itself.

The study, led by the University of Exeter and King’s College London , was published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity journal.