Studies show long-term neuropsychological effects after SARS-CoV-2 infection

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), causes a wide range of symptoms across the airways.

Many patients report many symptoms that affect the cardiovascular and nervous system. There is increasing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection can include long-term neuropsychological deficiencies, even in mild or moderate respiratory form.

A team of researchers at the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, found that SARS-CoV-2 could affect the central nervous system, especially the limbic system, which is involved in behavioral and emotional responses. I am reporting that there is.

Survey published on preprint server medRxiv*, It indicates the presence of long-term neuropsychological sequelae after COVID-19, regardless of the severity of respiratory illness.

Research background

Health experts suspect the presence of long-term neuropsychological deficiencies after SARS-C0V-2 infection. For example, previous studies of two previous coronavirus outbreaks, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), showed sleep disorders, emotional instability, poor concentration, and frequent trauma. The presence of neuropsychological symptoms such as recall was shown. Experience, memory loss, and fatigue in more than 15% of affected patients approximately 1 month to 3.5 years after infection.

Research flowchart

In addition, studies have shown that other disorders, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), encephalitis, and multiple sclerosis, have certain long-term deficiencies in cognitive functions such as emotional response and memory.

However, COVID-19 has been reported to increase the prevalence of stroke in patients and further increase short-term and long-term neurological and cognitive impairment. Finally, the sudden onset of anosmia or loss of odor is described as a symptom in COVID-19 patients.

This symptom occurs because the olfactory epithelium has angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors. This is the cell gateway that the virus uses to invade human cells. Scientists have formulated that the virus may have used the blood-brain barrier for viral entry.

All three groups of tasks to assess verbal episodic memory (A1), memory dysfunction anosognosia (B1), and multimodal emotional perception (C1) (severe in black, moderate in gray, mild in orange) ) Mean evaluation (and standard deviation), and their respective predictors (A2, B2, C2).

the study

The current study aims to clarify the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the brain. The team investigated whether COVID-19 causes long-term neuropsychological disorders of 6-9 months, identified the nature of the affected domains, and these disorders affect the patient’s quality of life. I want to know the impact.

The team reached the findings by performing standardized neuropsychological, neurological, psychiatric, and olfactory tests on 45 patients.

The team divided patients into three groups, severe, moderate, or mild, depending on the severity of the acute respiratory illness. Severe cases were admitted to the intensive care unit with respiratory assistance, moderate cases were admitted without respiratory assistance, and mild patients were not admitted.

Researchers have found a high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms during the acute phase of the illness, regardless of the severity of the illness. Patients in all three groups showed depressive symptoms, mania, anxiety, stress, apathy, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and dissociative disorders. Some patients reported insomnia, malaise, and morbid somnolence.

In terms of olfaction, 33.33 percent of the mild group, 73.33 percent of the moderate group, and 46.66 percent of the severe group develop hyposmia or partial olfactory loss 6-9 months after infection. On the other hand, 13.33 percent of the severely ill group still had anosmia or complete loss of odor.

Although cognitive deficits reported in the three groups were common, some areas of cognition and mood were affected differently depending on the severity of the illness. In long-term episodic memory, patients in the severe group performed worse than those in the mild group. They also showed more anosognosia for memory dysfunction.

Mild groups, on the other hand, were more stressed, anxious, depressed, and reported more cognitive problems. The moderate group did not recognize multimodal emotions much better than the mild group. All of these symptoms affect the patient’s life.

“At this stage, we need to link to whether cognitive impairment can be considered a marker of brain injury and / or psychiatric variables that can themselves result directly from SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is difficult to determine if it is. The stressful nature of common pandemics and the individual experience of the disease, “explained the researchers.

The team recommends implementing clinical guidelines and recommendations in the management of long-term neuropathy after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

*Important Notices

medRxiv Publish preliminary scientific reports that should not be considered definitive as they are not peer-reviewed, guide clinical practice / health-related behaviors, and should not be treated as established information.