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Brain volumetric changes in the general population following the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown

View ORCID ProfileTom Salomon, Adi Cohen, Gal Ben-Zvi, View ORCID ProfileRani Gera, View ORCID ProfileShiran Oren, Dana Roll, Gal Rozic, Anastasia Saliy, Niv Tik, Galia Tsarfati, View ORCID ProfileIdo Tavor, View ORCID ProfileTom Schonberg, View ORCID ProfileYaniv Assaf
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.08.285007
Tom Salomon
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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  • ORCID record for Tom Salomon
Adi Cohen
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Gal Ben-Zvi
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Rani Gera
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
3School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Shiran Oren
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Dana Roll
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Gal Rozic
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Anastasia Saliy
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Niv Tik
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
4Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Galia Tsarfati
5Division of Diagnostic Imaging, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, affiliated to the Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Ido Tavor
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
4Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
6The Strauss Center for Computational Neuroimaging, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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  • For correspondence: assafyan@gmail.com
Tom Schonberg
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
6The Strauss Center for Computational Neuroimaging, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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  • For correspondence: assafyan@gmail.com
Yaniv Assaf
1School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
2Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
6The Strauss Center for Computational Neuroimaging, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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  • For correspondence: assafyan@gmail.com
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Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak introduced unprecedented health-risks, as well as pressure on the financial, social, and psychological well-being due to the response to the outbreak1–4. Here, we examined the manifestations of the COVID-19 outbreak on the brain structure in the healthy population, following the initial phase of the pandemic in Israel. We pre-registered our hypothesis that the intense experience of the outbreak potentially induced stress-related brain modifications5–8. Volumetric changes in n = 50 participants scanned before and after the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown, were compared with n = 50 control participants that were scanned twice prior to the pandemic. The pandemic provided a rare opportunity to examine brain plasticity in a natural experiment. We found volumetric increases in bilateral amygdalae, putamen, and the anterior temporal cortices. Changes in the amygdalae diminished as time elapsed from lockdown relief, suggesting that the intense experience associated with the pandemic outbreak induced volumetric changes in brain regions commonly associated with stress and anxiety9–11.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
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Posted September 12, 2020.
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Brain volumetric changes in the general population following the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown
Tom Salomon, Adi Cohen, Gal Ben-Zvi, Rani Gera, Shiran Oren, Dana Roll, Gal Rozic, Anastasia Saliy, Niv Tik, Galia Tsarfati, Ido Tavor, Tom Schonberg, Yaniv Assaf
bioRxiv 2020.09.08.285007; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.08.285007
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Brain volumetric changes in the general population following the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown
Tom Salomon, Adi Cohen, Gal Ben-Zvi, Rani Gera, Shiran Oren, Dana Roll, Gal Rozic, Anastasia Saliy, Niv Tik, Galia Tsarfati, Ido Tavor, Tom Schonberg, Yaniv Assaf
bioRxiv 2020.09.08.285007; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.08.285007

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