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Health

Girls’ brains aged unusually rapidly during the covid-19 pandemic

Adolescents’ brains underwent accelerated ageing during the covid-19 pandemic, and the effect was more pronounced in girls than in boys

By Grace Wade

21 December 2023

Silhouette of girl

The covid pandemic had a particularly large effect on the ageing rate of adolescent girls’ brains

metamorworks/Shutterstock

Adolescents showed signs of accelerated brain ageing during the covid-19 pandemic, with girls affected to a greater degree than boys. The finding suggests that lockdown measures had a disproportionately detrimental influence on adolescent brain development in girls.

As the brain develops, the outer layer of its largest region, called the cerebral cortex, begins to thin. Hardships in childhood, such as experiencing…

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