A study published in Nature Medicine revealed that patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 showed a decline in cognitive function 12 to 18 months later. This decline was particularly significant among those affected by the virus's early variants.
The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool in collaboration with King's College London and the University of Cambridge as part of the COVID-CNS Consortium.
Adam Hampshire, the lead author of the study and a professor at King's College London said, "It … is the first study to apply detailed and sensitive assessments of cognitive performance from pre to post-infection under controlled conditions. In this respect, the study provides unique insights into the changes that occurred in cognitive and memory function amongst those who had mild COVID-19 illness early in the pandemic."
The study included 351 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and 2,927 matched controls, forming part of the University of Liverpool's COVID-19 Clinical Neuroscience Study (COVID-CNS).
While researchers do not fully understand why the virus leads to these cognitive issues, laboratory studies indicate that it can disrupt the brain's protective barrier, which normally prevents harmful substances from entering.
Additionally, the virus may interfere with communication between brain cells, resulting in imbalances of essential signaling molecules.
Professor Benedict Michael, a Neuroscience expert at the University of Liverpool, highlighted that COVID-19 is not just a respiratory illness. "Often, those patients who are most severely affected are the ones who have brain complications. These persistent cognitive deficits were present in those hospitalized both with and without clinical neurological complications, indicating that COVID-19 alone can cause cognitive impairment without a neurological diagnosis having been made," he added.
The research team is now investigating whether the mechanisms identified in COVID-19 might also explain similar cognitive effects observed in other severe infections, such as influenza.
Professor Gerome Breen from King's College London emphasized that ongoing research is essential to understand how these patients recover, who may decline further, and whether these cognitive issues are unique to COVID-19 or indicative of common brain injuries associated with other infections.
Importantly, this research could inform the development of similar studies for patients with long COVID, who often experience milder respiratory symptoms but report cognitive issues like 'brain fog,' and help formulate effective therapeutic strategies.
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