According to a non-peer-reviewed report, some people who have suffered and recovered from Covid-19 showed considerable cognitive performance deficits.

A study performed by Imperial College London researchers analysed the results of over 80,000 Covid-19 infected patients who were part of a study named the Great British Intelligence Test.

The cognitive loss was most significant in patients who had been hospitalized. In some cases, the impairment was equivalent to 10-year ageing of the brain, and it mirrors the decline in cognitive performance that follows a traumatic brain injury.

However, it remains to be shown whether these injuries are indeed caused by SARS-CoV2 and if they are only temporary consequences. Other researchers have also warned that this study fails to address the participants’ cognitive state before the SARS-CoV2 infection.

In theory, many infected individuals got rid of the virus and have negative PCR tests but still deal with the disease’s effects for several months. The so-called long Covid leaves people struggling with long-term sequels, such as fatigue, anxiety, and memory loss.

Sources:
COVID-19 (coronavirus): Long-term effects
COVID’s cognitive costs? Some patients’ brains may age 10 years
– Hampshire, Adam, et al. “Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from COVID-19 relative to controls: An N= 84,285 online study.” medRxiv (2020).

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Rita dos Santos Silva
I joined United Academics team in 2015, during my Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, at the VU Amsterdam. By that time, I was starting to realize that, more than planning scientific experiments, I was interested in understanding how science evolved and where it is going. After joining United Academics, it became clearer that open access must be the path for science advancement. In 2016, I became United Academics's editor-in-chief.

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