We've moved away from obsessing over Covid, but this to me is a meaningful finding and should be noted. I had to register with Medscape to get access BTW. Note the careful comment on the meaning of the changes but even now to me due caution should continue to be observed
First 'Before-and-After' COVID Brain Imaging Study Shows Structural Changes
Even mild cases of COVID-19 are associated with brain changes including decreased gray matter, an overall reduction in brain volume, and cognitive decline, a new imaging study shows.
In the first study to use magnetic resonance brain imaging, before and after COVID-19, investigators found "greater reduction in grey matter thickness and tissue-contrast in the orbitofrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus, greater changes in markers of tissue damage in regions functionally connected to the primary olfactory cortex and greater reduction in global brain size." However, the researchers urge caution when interpreting the findings.
Gwenaëlle Douaud, PhD, Wellcome Center for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues describe these brain changes as "modest."
"Whether these abnormal changes are the hallmark of the spread of the pathogenic effects in the brain, or of the virus itself, and whether these may prefigure a future vulnerability of the limbic system in particular, including memory, for these participants, remains to be investigated," the researchers write.
First 'Before-and-After' COVID Brain Imaging Study Shows Structural Changes
Even mild cases of COVID-19 are associated with brain changes including decreased gray matter, an overall reduction in brain volume, and cognitive decline, a new imaging study shows.
In the first study to use magnetic resonance brain imaging, before and after COVID-19, investigators found "greater reduction in grey matter thickness and tissue-contrast in the orbitofrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus, greater changes in markers of tissue damage in regions functionally connected to the primary olfactory cortex and greater reduction in global brain size." However, the researchers urge caution when interpreting the findings.
Gwenaëlle Douaud, PhD, Wellcome Center for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues describe these brain changes as "modest."
"Whether these abnormal changes are the hallmark of the spread of the pathogenic effects in the brain, or of the virus itself, and whether these may prefigure a future vulnerability of the limbic system in particular, including memory, for these participants, remains to be investigated," the researchers write.
