According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in five adults will develop long-term effects from COVID-19.
Neurological symptoms associated with corona in the long term include difficulty thinking or concentrating, headache, trouble sleeping, dizziness, tingling sensation, change in smell or taste, depression or anxiety, but studies have found that corona it can also be associated with changes in the heart, lungs or other organs even in patients who are asymptomatic.
As more people become infected and recover from SARS-CoV-2 infection, research is emerging, focusing on the lasting consequences of COVID-19.
In this study, the researchers used magnetic susceptibility imaging to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on the brain.
Magnetic susceptibility refers to how certain magnetic elements, such as blood, iron, and calcium, are in an applied magnetic field.
This capability helps detect and monitor a range of neurological conditions including microbleeding, vascular abnormalities, brain tumors and strokes.
“Group-level studies had not previously focused on coronal changes in the magnetic sensitivity of the brain, despite numerous case reports suggesting such abnormalities,” said Dr. Sapna S Mishra, researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and study co-author The study “sheds light on this new aspect of the neurological effects of Corona and reveals significant abnormalities in Corona survivors.”
The researchers analyzed highly sensitive MRI data from 46 patients who had recovered from COVID-19 and 30 healthy participants as a control group.
Imaging took place within six months of recovery. Among the patients, who have been suffering from Corona for some time, the most common symptoms were fatigue, difficulty sleeping, lack of attention and memory problems.
“Changes in sensitivity values of brain regions may be indicative of local structural changes,” said Dr. Mishra.
‘The sensitivities could reflect the presence of abnormal amounts of paramagnetic compounds, while the reduced sensitivity could be due to changes such as calcification or lack of paramagnetic particles that contain iron,’ he added.
The MRI results showed that patients recovered from Corona had significantly higher sensitivity values in the frontal lobe and brainstem than healthy controls.
Clusters obtained mainly in the frontal lobe also show differences in gray matter.
“Areas of the brain that have undergone changes are associated with fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression, headaches and cognitive problems,” said Dr. Mishra.
Parts of the left inferior orbitofrontal gyrus are associated with language comprehension and production, and the right inferior frontal gyrus, which controls various cognitive functions including attention, motor inhibition and imagination, as well as social cognitive processes.
The researchers also found a significant difference in the right diencephalon region of the brainstem, which is associated with several critical bodily functions, including coordination with the endocrine system to secrete hormones, transmitting sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, and regulation of circadian rhythms.
Dr Mishra explained that the results “indicate serious long-term complications that can be caused by the coronavirus, even after months of recovering from the infection,” explaining that “the current results are from a small time window, but are likely to show longitudinal time points over two years.” If there is any permanent change.
The researchers are currently conducting a study in the same group of patients to determine whether these brain abnormalities persist over a longer period of time.
