Moderator: Welcome, everybody. Today we’ll be talking to Dr. Neva Corrigan, a noted research scientist from the University of Washington, who has been at the forefront of studying how the pandemic has affected adolescent brain development. We thank you for being on the show today, Doctor.
Dr. Corrigan: Thank you so much for inviting me. I am looking forward to sharing these findings and implications from our research.
Moderator: In fact, the pandemic has directly or indirectly affected all of us, but your very recent work is about the effect it has on adolescent brains. Would you mind elaborating a bit on what you found?
Dr. Corrigan: Of course. The work that we’ve done has really centered around adolescents, ages 9 through 17, and here, the lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have indeed accelerated brain aging in these individuals. More precisely, we have determined that the maturation of adolescent brains was at a faster rate than could be explained by natural maturation across adolescence. This was most evident in females, where we found evidence of acceleration in brain aging of about 4.2 years of age, compared with 1.4 years of age in males.
Moderator: That’s a very great value. What are your thoughts on what might have accounted for the period of advancement?
Dr. Corrigan: We suspect that the lifestyle changes and stressors associated with pandemic lockdowns-disrupted routines and social isolation among them-have been important contributors. Previous studies have already revealed that chronic stress can hasten the maturation of the brain, especially within the cerebral cortex, responsible for so many of our cognitive functions.
Moderator: So, it seemed like females were more affected than males. Can you explain why that may have been the case?
Dr. Corrigan: Yes, our data revealed that in the female brain, 30 regions were associated with an accelerated aging process, while only two regions were so in the male brain. The reason for such females is still unknown, and the reason might be due to particular vulnerabilities from stress and social variables. More studies are required in order to account for these sex-based differences.
Moderator: You keep mentioning it’s related to stress a lot. What advice do you have for parents of teenagers who went through the pandemic?
Dr. Corrigan: Parents need to keep in touch and be on the lookout for early signs of mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety. Encourage healthy social activities to positively influence brain development. Also, open communication really helps in destressing among teens.
Moderator: Now, the study apparently has limitations too. Could you discuss those?
Dr. Corrigan: Of course, this is a small sample size of data not collected specifically for the investigation of pandemic effects. These will be big limitations in attempting to tease apart which stressors had the most impact on the brain changes that we have observed. Also, our sample only includes a narrow age range, thus cannot be generalized without further investigation to other age groups.
Moderator: These findings are important, despite the limitations. How do these findings feed into future research in this area?
Dr. Corrigan: Our work highlights the need to continue studying long-term implications of this acceleration in brain maturation for mental health outcomes. Future studies should consider larger and more diverse samples in attempts to better understand the broader impacts and possible recovery processes of adolescent brain development in the post-pandemic era.
Moderator: As we close, do you have a final message you would like to leave with the audience?
Dr. Corrigan: For all this alarm it may elicit, one does not want to forget that accelerated aging is not an entirely bad thing in that, in some ways, the brain may be more efficient. At any rate, it will be important to focus on the ways to understand and foster adolescents’ mental health and development as we navigate the uncharted environment with which the pandemic presents us.
Moderator: Well, thanks a lot, Dr. Corrigan, for spending time with us and for such enlightening thoughts. Fascinating conversation-we really appreciate the passion that you bring to advance our knowledge in these important areas.
Dr. Corrigan: Thank you very much for the opportunity to comment on this critical area.