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Critique Essay: How The Pandemic Has Rewired Our Brains

Charlize Kiesha I. Medina,

Centennial College

COMM-170: College Communications 2

Professor Dennise Doell

February 13th ,2022

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introduction
What are the possible reasons for how the COVID-19 pandemic affects people’s brain?

What impact does it contribute to the brain, would it be positive or negative effects? There are a

variety of reasons for how and what the pandemic has affected the human brain. The article

“How The Pandemic Has Rewired Our Brains” written by Aaron Hutchins, emphasizes how the

pandemic changed people’s consumer habits, mourning processes, and memory capacities that

have physical and psychological effects on our brain functions. Therefore, Hutchin's argument

covers most of the reasons on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted each individual, whether

it would be good or bad. He displays his reasonings and fairness about his argument exquisitely

with good support from different sources.

Summary
The advantages and disadvantages of how the pandemic impacted people’s brain are

illustrated within this article written by Hutchins in an expository writing style on October 28th,

2021. He highlights the long-term physical and psychological implications of the COVID-19

outbreak on people's consumption habits, bereavement processes, and memory capacities.

Hutchins quoted Sahakian's comments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic causing chronic stress

among individuals that can impair the hippocampus, which is part of the brain (Sahakian, 2021).

She made it clear by stating this specific part of the brain is critical for memory and learning.

According to Liu-Ambrose (2021), “there are lesions in the brain that are more likely in those

who have been sick with COVID-19 These lesions have a major impact on cognition and can put

people's cognitive state and behavior at risk in the future” (para 12). Furthermore, the memorial

for the deceased will be delayed during the pandemic, which influences negative emotions that
can become chronic as people become stuck in grief (Cadelle, 2021). However, Hutchins 3

described that there are some positive effects that COVID-19 brought upon our physical and

psychological brain function. For example, during the lockdowns, most individuals' mindsets

changed regarding how they managed their money as they learned to regulate their spending

habits- they also spent their money on healthier meals. The COVID-19 pandemic causes most

people to experience severe negative emotions that agonize their hippocampal and related

memory centers; as a result, they may forget some recollections of events that occurred during

the pandemic (Brown, 2021). In contrast, the lifestyle changes that occur during the pandemic

are more likely to stick in their minds (Brown, 2021).

Reasoning
Hutchins properly demonstrates his point in this article by offering reliable information

about the benefits and drawbacks of how the pandemic has rewired our brains. He proved his

claims with evidence and examples from other medical professionals and educators, which he

used to reinforce his point. For instance, he elaborated on Sahakian's arguments that persistent

stress might impair a section of our brain that is crucial for memory and learning. Sahakian is a

professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge. He informed the audience

that long-term stress can lead to chronic stress among Canadians. Hutchins further discuss some

of the issues that the pandemic has cast upon individuals. This includes the inability to physically

contact other people, working from home in noisy situations, irregular lockdowns, and the dread

of contracting covid and passing it along to their loved ones. By elaborating on several medical

experts professionals and instructors, he exhibited that his argument points are credible and

reliable. For example, he used Teresa Liu-Ambrose claims as reference. Liu-Ambrose is a

director of the University of British Columbia's aging, mobility, and cognitive health lab, claims
that “Covid-19 can promote lesions that can lead to behavioral changes that affect one's 4

daily lives”. The author claimed that prolonged or delayed memorials influence the brain during

the pandemic. He proved this by mentioning Susan Cadell, who reads a lot of obituaries.

According to Cadell (2021), “the deceased's funeral will be held later on, and without the

external rituals, we would be engulfed by grief, misery, and loneliness, which will harm our

mental health” (para 17). Lastly, Hutchins supported his claim with statistics on how the

COVID- 19 pandemic has influenced most people's attitudes toward money management.

According to Deloitte (2021), “during the pandemic, 80 percent of Canadians said they spent

more on healthy meals, while 40% said they spent less on dessert or ready-to-eat meals” (para

28). As a result, these are the reasons why the author was able to effectively communicate his

point of view by providing reference information by medical professionals and educators.

Fairness
The author's explanation of the issue is reasonable because it embraces the many

perspectives of medical experts and educators. Furthermore, he did not only consider his point of

view on this issue, but he also considered other people's perspectives as well. Hutchins provided

evidence of his argument on how the pandemic altered people’s spending habits by showing

statistics with percentages to the readers. Hutchins also cited and credited medical professionals

and educators by referencing and elaborating on their claims. Hutchins is also fair-minded since

he weighed both sides of the benefits and drawbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on

people’s personal lives. For example, he wrote that people developed a healthier mindset to

manage their money and eat healthier meals. He wasn’t biased even though the COVID-19

pandemic brought upon a lot of difficult and negative changes that affect a lot of people's brains.

Hutchins claims are also trustworthy since he used real-life scenarios that most people could
connect to during the pandemic. For example, as previously mentioned, working from home with

several distractions, not being able to socialize with other people, and concern of contracting

covid and passing it down to their loved ones are some real-life examples. Therefore, these are a

few examples of how Hutchins displays fairness in writing this article

Assumptions
Even though some factors contribute to chronic stress that can damage the hippocampus,

Hutchins considered that most people are only stressed during the pandemic. Although COVID-

19 resulted in numerous misfortunes affecting one's brains, it also resulted in several beneficial

opportunities. During lockdowns, most people had a lot of time on their hands that they did not

have previously. This majority of time enables people to spend more time with their families

while bonding and spending quality time with each other. This may involve activities like

watching movies, playing board games, or even cooking together, all of which can be beneficial

to our brain's mental health. Furthermore, a person could develop or create new activities for

which they previously neglected due to lack of time. Dancing, playing instruments, and watching

new shows are some examples of development and creating new hobbies. While fewer

automobiles are traveling and fewer industrial goods are produced, the COVID-19 epidemic has

reduced pollution as well. This might benefit manufacturing workers since they would be able to

rest and relax because only a restricted number of individuals are permitted due to lockdowns.

Although COVID-19 can cause stress, it is still crucial to keep a positive attitude and try to

adjust to this new reality. Therefore, there are some instances in which Covid-19 has brought

upon good impacts on our brain (mentally and physically)

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 Conclusion
To conclude, COVID-19 has several harmful consequences for our brains, but it also has

some positive aspects. Hutchins discusses the beneficial and negative long-term physical and

psychological impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on people's purchasing habits, mourning

processes, and memory capacities. He was able to successfully support his points by offering

concrete evidence to back up his claims on this issue. Statistic, recent dates, references, and

statements from medical professionals and educators were used to demonstrate this. Hutchins

displayed effective reasoning and fairness by providing well informed information to the readers.

Therefore, these are some of the reasons for how and what the pandemic has affected and

rewired people’s brains.

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Reference
How the pandemic has rewired our brains. (2021, October 8).
Macleans.ca. https://www.macleans.ca/society/health/how-the-pandemic-has-rewired-
our-brains/