Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Environment on Early Child Brain and Cognitive Development

ABSTRACT

Background: Since the first reports of the novel coronavirus in the US in early 2020, public health organizations have advocated preventative policies including stay-at-home orders that closed businesses, daycares, schools, playgrounds, and limited child learning activities. The impact of these policies on child neurodevelopment is unknown but may have significant long-term consequences. Methods: Leveraging a large and ongoing longitudinal study of child neurodevelopment, we examined general childhood cognitive scores (assessed using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning) in 672 children between 0 and 3 years of age born between 2020 and 2021 (n-118) vs. the preceding decade from 2011 to 2019 (n=554). Brain neuroimaging (MRI) was also performed on each child. Using longitudinal mixed-effects models, we compared longitudinal trends of voxel-wise brain cognitive domain measures before and during the pandemic. Results: We find that children born during the pandemic (Since July 2020) have significantly reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic;and that skills have continued to decline as the pandemic has progressed. Moreover, we find that children from lower socioeconomic families have been most affected. These neurocognitive findings are supported by neuroimaging data, which also shows reduced brain white matter development in children born since July 2020 compared to their counterparts from 2011 to 2019. Conclusions: Results highlight that even in the absence of direct SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 illness, the environmental changes associated COVID-19 pandemic is negatively affecting infant and child development. Funding Source UG3 ODO23313 Keywords COVID-19 Pandemic, Child Cognition, Early Neurocognitive Development, Longitudinal Neuroimaging, Developmental Neuroimaging