Long-running coronavirus lockdowns are not only limiting Australians' freedoms but also their memory and concentration, a cognitive psychologist says.
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Analysing studies from across the globe, professor Brett Hayes from the UNSW school of psychology says the "Groundhog Day"-feel of lockdowns is affecting people's cognitive abilities.
Metropolitan Melbourne endured 112 days of lockdown in 2020, Greater Sydney has been subject to stay-at-home orders since June 26 this year, while other states and territories have had to impose their own shutdowns.
Although there is little to no specific data on Australia's lockdown experience, a study on Italians locked down for roughly two months reported a rise in distractions and mind wandering.
Of 4175 respondents in quarantine or self-isolation, almost a third experienced a degree of change in their everyday cognition, including memory problems and trouble concentrating when reading or watching something.
Prof Hayes says the study suggests living through the "Groundhog Day" nature of lockdown makes it harder for the brain to lay down memories and retrieve them later on.
Groundhog Day refers to a 1993 Bill Murray film about a weatherman who goes to a town to cover the annual emergence of the groundhog from its hole, getting caught in a time warp and reliving the day over and over.
"What we know about human memory is that the context is really important," he said.
"You might be doing a job at home, chatting to a friend, or watching a movie. When we have those experiences, we might be focused on the main part of the experience, but our brain is actually encoding a lot of other things just incidentally, like where that's happening, the location, where and when it's taking place."
With people largely confined to their house in lockdown, he says days can start to blur together, making it harder to separate experiences and prompting "memory fog".
Another study on Scotland's two-month lockdown last year tested people's memory, decision-making and selective attention, and found their performance suffered.
The easing of restrictions, however, led to more mobility, and social contact coincided with improved cognitive function in a number of tests.
Prof Hayes says other studies show variations on exercise and activities in the home are the salve to memory fog, with cognition recovering once people are no longer shackled by lockdown.
"While there hasn't been time to conduct research on the long-term effects of lockdowns on memory, the evidence so far shows that as restrictions are eased, these cognitive issues should improve," he said.
Australian Associated Press
