Recent investigations into how people’s memory and cognitive performance have changed during extended lockdowns and pandemic-related disruptions offer intriguing — and cautionary — findings. While the popular belief is that the pandemic made us universally more forgetful, the story emerging from early research is more nuanced.
What the Studies Found
Researchers asked adults across several nations about their memory, attention and mental functioning, comparing responses from the lockdown period to pre-pandemic times. Many respondents reported experiencing more “brain fog”, lapses in attention, forgetfulness, and difficulties sticking to routines. In short: yes, there’s a subjective sense that mental sharpness declined.
However, when objective tests of memory and cognitive tasks were administered, the differences were often small or inconsistent. In other words: people think they’re more forgetful, though performance dips don’t always show up as dramatic in measured tests.
Certain patterns did emerge:
- People with more disrupted routines (e.g., irregular sleep, increased alcohol use, elevated stress) were more likely to report cognitive issues.
- Social isolation — less interaction, fewer in-person conversations, limited new experiences — correlated with greater self-reported memory problems.
- Younger adults, who may have expected to be cognitively at their peak, sometimes reported greater frustration at noticing lapses.
- A perception of reduced mental stimulation (fewer challenges, less variety in daily life) appeared to be tied to complaints of “forgetting” more often.
Why This Isn’t Entirely Surprising
Maintaining cognitive sharpness is not just about brain capacity — it’s also about context and routine. Some contributing factors include:
- Reduced novelty: Learning new things (skills, languages, hobbies) keeps the brain engaged. With lockdowns, many people had fewer opportunities for that.
- Routine disruption: Regular sleep-wake cycles, physical activity, social contact and structured work all support memory and attention. Interruptions in these can degrade cognitive ease.
- Stress and anxiety: Chronic stress floods the body with hormones like cortisol, which can interfere with memory encoding and retrieval.
- Environmental cues: Much of our memory is cue-based — the familiar commute, the coffee shop chat, the in-person meeting. With many of these gone, we lose “anchors” that help recall.
What This Means for You
If you’ve noticed yourself misplacing items more often, forgetting names, or struggling with attention, you’re likely far from alone. Here are practical steps that might help:
- Re-establish structure: Consistent sleep times, scheduled breaks, and regular movement all support mental clarity.
- Introduce novelty or challenge: Take up a new hobby, try a different route for walks, learn something new — these help stimulate neural pathways.
- Stay socially active: Even virtual conversations and group activities help maintain cognitive engagement.
- Manage stress: Mind-body techniques like meditation, mindful breathing, or just scheduled “unplugged” time can reduce the load on your memory systems.
- Reduce distractions: Working in fragments, multitasking heavily, or being constantly pulled by alerts can degrade attention and memory. Clear blocks of focus help.
The Bottom Line
While the data doesn’t support a dramatic universal drop in cognitive “power” during lockdowns, the perceived increase in forgetfulness is meaningful. It reflects changes in environment, routine and stimulus — all of which matter for how our memory and attention work.
Importantly: the brain is resilient. By recognizing the contributing factors and proactively adapting habits, many of the “lockdown fog” effects can be reversed or mitigated
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