Pandemic stress prematurely aged teens’ brains, Stanford study finds
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A Stanford University study published Thursday found that stress from the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely aged adolescents’ brains, making them more like those of peers about three years older.
By comparing MRI scans from children taken before the pandemic with scans from other kids taken during the pandemic, the study found that changes in brain structure that occur naturally with age sped up in adolescents as they experienced the COVID-19 lockdowns. That could have lasting implications for those youths if the changes are found to be more than temporary.
“We know developmentally that brains change over time, that’s not at all a surprise,” said Stanford Professor of Psychology Ian Gotlib, lead author of the study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. “What was surprising here was how quickly these changes occurred in adolescents as a result of the pandemic.”
What those changes mean as far as the teens’ brain function and mental health, and whether the changes will be temporary or lasting, is unclear, Gotlib said.
—The Mercury News
Philadelphia City Council approves a permanent 10 p.m. curfew for teens
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia City Council on Thursday voted to impose a permanent 10 p.m. curfew for young people under the age of 18 in the city.
The city had enforced the 10 p.m. rule over the summer, moving the curfew from midnight and framing it as a way to keep children safe during an unrelenting gun violence crisis. That legislation, championed by Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, expired at the end of September.
But the new bill has no end date, meaning it will remain in place indefinitely. The legislation received near unanimous support from Council, and now heads to Mayor Jim Kenney’s desk for final approval before becoming law.
Philadelphia has had a youth curfew in place for decades. But experts who study the rules have said they have little to no impact on crime or victimization rates. And while the 10 p.m. curfew was in place over the summer, more children were shot than during any other summer on record, according to police statistics.
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
Trump reportedly furious over Kanye video of dinner with Fuentes
Former President Donald Trump reportedly believes the rapper formerly known as Kanye West tried to sabotage him by bringing fellow antisemite Nick Fuentes to the former president’s Florida estate for dinner last week, then making that visit public.
“He tried to f--- me,” Trump fumed afterward, according to NBC News. “He’s crazy. He can’t beat me.”
Both Trump and West, who now goes by Ye, have announced their hopes to be elected president in 2024. According to Ye, the former president became upset during their dinner meeting when the “Dark Fantasy” rapper asked him to run as vice president on a shared ticket.
Trump publicly denied knowing Fuentes prior to last week’s meeting. Still, he has ducked several opportunities to denounce Fuentes' far-right political positions, which include skepticism about the toll of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were systematically murdered.
—New York Daily News
Boris Johnson to run for Parliament seat at next general election
LONDON — Former British prime minister Boris Johnson will stand once again to be a member of Parliament at the next general election, a source close to Johnson has confirmed.
Johnson will run for reelection in Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the next poll, expected to be in 2024.
He has been a member of Parliament in the west London constituency since 2015, winning it with a majority of 5,034 in 2017 and 7,210 in 2019, by which time he was prime minister. It has been a Tory seat since its creation in 2010.
The source confirmed Johnson's decision to stand for a fourth time after the Telegraph first reported that he told his local Conservative Party of his intention.
—dpa
