British research on 81,300 people shows that cured corona patients score significantly worse than those who have not been infected.
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In the corona year 2020, the British public broadcaster BBC called on the population to take the ‘Great British Intelligence Test’ online to map their individual cognitive strengths. The call made no connection with the possible consequences of an infection with sars-CoV-2 for the brain. But the participants who took all nine sets of the cognitive tests—testing things like working memory, attention span, and the ability to correctly assess other people’s emotions—were asked questions about their medical history, education level, and background. About 81,300 people answered all questions. More than 500 of them appeared to have previously had a confirmed corona infection.
From a comprehensive statistical analysis, published via The Lancet, it now appears that people who have had corona did significantly worse on the cognitive tests than other participants of the same age and socioeconomic profile.
As the course of the corona infection became more severe, the participants did worse. Those who had to be on a ventilator in hospital because of Covid saw their cognitive abilities diminished even more than participants who said they had ever had a stroke or participants who reported having learning disabilities. But those who were able to cure their covid-19 at home also achieved a (slightly) worse score than those without a corona infection.
The most pronounced differences were in tests that measured how well the participants could reason and how good they are at problem-solving thinking and spatial awareness.
Remarkably, the people who said they had no permanent symptoms (‘long covid’) also performed worse. In the group that said they had no more problems, it didn’t matter how long the infection had been. Long-term research will have to show whether there really is an effect that lasts for years.
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