CEPI, Oxford launch project to develop arenavirus vaccines – University of Minnesota Twin Cities

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people 50 years and older in a UK cohort experienced significant cognitive declineeven if they were never infected, reveals a study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

University of Exeter researchers analyzed neuropsychologic data from 3,142 participants aged 50 and older before the pandemic (March 2019 to February 2020) and during the pandemic's first (March 2020 to February 2021) and second (March 2021 to February 2022) years. The average participant age was 67.5 years.

In the first pandemic year, executive function and working memory were significantly worse across the cohort (effect size, 0.15 for executive function and 0.51 for working memory) and in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; effect size, 0.13 and 0.40) or a history of COVID-19 (effect size, 0.24 and 0.46). In the second year, impaired working memory persisted across the cohort (effect size, 0.47).

Risk factors included less exercise (P = 0.0049; executive function) and increased alcohol use (P = 0.049; working memory) across the whole cohort, as well as depression (P = 0.011; working memory) in those who tested positive for COVID-19 and loneliness (P = 0.0038; working memory) in those with MCI.

In the second year, less exercise continued to affect executive function across the cohort, and associations persisted between worsened working memory and increased alcohol use (P = 0.0040), loneliness (P = 0.042), and depression (P = 0.014) in those with MCI and reduced exercise (P = 0.0029), loneliness (P = 0.031) and depression (P = 0.036) in those who had COVID-19.

Risk factors included less exercise and increased alcohol useacross the whole cohort, as well as depression in those who tested positive for COVID-19 and lonelinessin those with mild cognitive impairment.

"It is now more important than ever to make sure we are supporting people with early cognitive decline, especially because there are things they can do to reduce their risk of dementia later on," lead author Anne Corbett, PhD, said in a University of Exeter press release.

In a related commentary, Dorina Cadar, PhD, of University College London, said, "Looking back, COVID-19 has revealed the astonishing vulnerability of our societies, but also the lack of strategy and organisation from so many governments worldwide, and our shared fragility when confronted with infections."

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CEPI, Oxford launch project to develop arenavirus vaccines - University of Minnesota Twin Cities