News Neuroscience

Brain scans give clues to how teens handle pandemic stress

Weaker connections between certain parts of the organ predicted harder times during COVID

A teen looks sadly at a laptop screen in a dark room.

Weaker connections between certain parts of the brain before the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with teenagers having more sadness and stress during the pandemic, a study finds.

Jo McRyan/DigitalVision/Getty Images

By Laura Sanders

WASHINGTON — Brain scans could be used to predict how teenagers’ mental health will fare during a stressful time, an analysis that spanned the COVID-19 pandemic suggests.