COVID-19 and Your Noggin: What the Electroencephalography Shows
Brain's frontal lobe electrical activity may be affected by COVID-19
Let's dive into the brainy, COVID-19-related drama! According to studies, around 15-25% of patients with severe COVID-19 could experience a range of neurological symptoms like headaches, confusion, and seizures. When these symptoms show up, doctors usually refer patients for an EEG test – that's short for electroencephalography, a fancy test that records electrical activity in the brain.
So, scientists from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh got their hands on EEG results from 617 patients from 84 studies. They found that about a third of the abnormal findings were in the frontal lobes – the brain area lying right next to the ol' COVID-19 entry point, the nose.
Dr. Zulfi Haneef, an assistant professor of neurology/neurophysiology at Baylor, points out, "There seems to be a connection between the part of the brain that is located directly next to that entry point." He proposes expanding EEG tests and other brain imaging, like MRI or CT scans, to get a closer look at this area.
The researchers found that the severity of the disease and existing neurological conditions, such as epilepsy, correlated with the extent of EEG abnormalities. Abnormal electrical discharges and slowing of brain waves were the most common findings.
But it's not all the virus's fault. The researchers noted that systemic effects like inflammation, low oxygen levels, sticky blood, and cardiac arrest might play a role in EEG abnormalities beyond the frontal lobes.
There's one more issue on the COVID-19 docket: "brain fog." In some cases, long COVID, a collection of post-recovery health problems, features mental fogginess. A recent study on MedRxiv suggests that post-COVID cognitive function might be bogged down by around a decade.
While this study didn't prove that the infection caused long-term cognitive decline, its findings heighten concerns about lasting brain effects. Dr. Haneef adds, "These findings tell us that there might be long-term issues, which is something we have suspected, and now we are finding more evidence to back that up."
On the bright side, over half of the patients who underwent follow-up EEG tests showed improvements. However, the analysis had some limitations, such as lacking raw data, underreporting of normal EEGs, and the use of anti-seizure medications that might have obscured EEG signs of seizures.
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Enrichment Data:
The research highlights the potential for COVID-19 to cause neurological abnormalities demonstrated through EEG tests. Some key findings might include:
- Altered Brain Activity Patterns: These could show up as changes in specific wave frequencies, such as alpha, beta, theta, or delta waves, indicative of underlying neurological dysfunction.
- Irregularities in Amplitude and Power Spectral Density: Such variations across different brain regions may point to specific cognitive or physiological processes affected by COVID-19 neurological impairments.
Keep an eye on future studies for a more precise understanding of EEG abnormalities in patients with COVID-19 and neurological symptoms.
- Among patients with severe COVID-19, studies estimate that 15-25% may experience neurological symptoms such as headaches, confusion, and seizures.
- Scientists have found that about a third of the abnormal EEG findings were in the frontal lobes, which is located near the COVID-19 entry point in the nose.
- The severity of COVID-19 and existing neurological conditions like epilepsy seem to correlate with the extent of EEG abnormalities.
- Abnormal electrical discharges and slowing of brain waves were the most common findings in EEG tests for COVID-19 patients.
- The researchers discovered that systemic effects like inflammation, low oxygen levels, and cardiac arrest might also contribute to EEG abnormalities beyond the frontal lobes.
- The study suggests that long COVID may affect mental cognition, with post-recovery cognitive function being slowed down by approximated ten years, although further research is needed to confirm long-term cognitive decline linked to COVID-19 infection.
