The stress of lockdowns, fear and social isolation appear to have left a mark on our brains. Experts say it may be possible to counteract the changes.

The brains of healthy people aged faster during the COVID-19 pandemic than did the brains of people analysed before the pandemic began, a study of almost 1,000 people suggests. The accelerated ageing occurred even in people who didn’t become infected.

A new study published in Nature Communications finds that living through the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated brain aging by an average of 5.5 months-even among people who were never infected.