A year of lockdown has aged your brain – here's how to sharpen up A year of monotony, isolation and increased screen use has made us slower and more forgetful, but there are ways to undo the damage 15 March 2021 • 5:00am A lack of novelty has diminished our brain power Nearly 12 months in, and heavy is the head that bears lockdown. Coping during this period of national incarceration has been a mental battle – and experts say the dramatic change to our lifestyles, coupled with unprecedented levels of stress, has aged our brains. If you’ve been feeling more forgetful, unable to concentrate, and stumbling over the right words, you could be experiencing what’s being referred to as ‘lockdown brain’.