This is one of the first investigations to determine structural damage due to the decision-making function.
A study published in the journal “Scientific Reports” in August 2024 revealed that people who are recovering from COVID-19 and suffered loss of smell had behavioral, functional and structural changes in the brain, thus demonstrating the incidences of this disease, not only at the respiratory level but also at the brain and central nervous system level.
Anosmia, or loss of smell, was associated with more impulsive decision-making behaviors.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of talk about the repercussions at the brain and neurological level. There has been debate about whether or not the virus affects the central nervous system. It is not known for sure, but it does affect it through inflammation or other means,” emphasized Pablo Billeke, Ph.D. in Medical Sciences.
The interdisciplinary research was led by Pablo Billeke, director of the Laboratory of Social Neuroscience and Neuromodulation at the Center for Research in Social Complexity (neuroCICS) of the Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD), in collaboration with Alejandra Figueroa and Patricia Soto-Icaza, researchers at neuroCICS; UDD postdoc and researcher at Diego Portales University Leonie Kausel, and the team of experimenters at neuroCICS.
The study also received support from researchers from the Clínica Alemana in Santiago, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the Sotero del Río Hospital, the University of Concepción and the Universidad San Sebastián.
The sample consisted of 100 patients, of whom 73 were recovering from COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023.
“These types of studies are very complex, which is why they require collaborative efforts that are very valuable in the long run. In addition, this type of collaboration not only expands the possibilities of designing and executing the studies, but also enriches the perspectives of analysis and scientific explorations,” emphasized Patricia Soto-Icaza, Ph.D. in Neurosciences.
The sample consisted of 73 COVID-19 patients between 2020 and 2023, who were in public and private hospitals, which was used as an indicator of possible severity of the disease and with loss of smell as an indicator of neurological impairment.
“We incorporated different neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography, behavioral modeling techniques, neuropsychological assessments, in an interdisciplinary way to understand these impacts and repercussions on daily cognitive functioning, and thus, find markers that alert us to these possible alterations and damages that may have been generated in these patients,” said Alejandra Figuera, Ph.D (c) in Neuroscience.
Among the main findings, anosmia, or loss of smell, was associated with more impulsive decision-making behaviors, which was reflected in the brain’s decreased ability to identify the value of information during decision-making.
Pablo Billeke added that “we want to follow up for several years, that will depend on the resources, but it is important to follow up, to know what happens to these patients in 5 more years. There are already antecedents of Alzheimer’s disease, so we believe that we will have repercussions on the state of brain health of people.”
The aim of the study is not only to investigate the repercussions of COVID but also to offer solutions to the population that was or is affected by this disease, which is why Alejandra Figueroa mentioned that they want to “try to understand the patients who were being harmed and how this process was being carried out, and with that knowledge generate intervention or treatment strategies that – obviously – would have a positive impact on their functioning and quality of life.”
Por Sharon Bodenstein
Vice-Rectorate for Research and Doctorates UDD
