A 65-year-old woman repeatedly seeks medical help for her failing memory. She is first told it’s nothing to worry about, then, a year later, that it’s “just normal aging.” Until finally, the penny drops: “It’s Alzheimer’s. There is no cure.”
Scientists and physicians raised concerns early in the pandemic, pointing out that increased parental stress, COVID infections, reduced interactions with other babies and adults and changes to health care could affect child development.
Larissa was a 21-year-old Canadian college student recovering from COVID-19 when she died from complications related to an accidental overdose of acetaminophen, a medication in probably every drug store and most medicine cabinets in the country.
As an attention researcher, I study all the different processes our brains use to focus and maintain attention. Attention isn’t a single mechanism, but rather the result of a number of different mechanisms across various areas of the brain.