Brain's frontal lobes' electrical activity can be impacted by COVID-19 infection
COVID-19 ain't no joke, especially when it comes to messin' with your brain. A review of research has revealed that a considerable number of folks with severe COVID-19 exhibit neurological symptoms, such as dizziness, confusion, seizures, and even strokes.
When dealing with these neurological issues, doctors might hook you up with an electroencephalography (EEG) test. This bad boy involves stickin' some electrodes on your skull to monitor the electrical activity in your noggin.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh examined EEG results from 617 patients, snagged from 84 separate studies. The median age of patients undergoing these tests was 61.3, and two-thirds were dudes.
The most common findings? The researchers spotted slow brain waves and wonky electrical discharges, mainly in the frontal lobes. And get this – the more severe the disease, the worse the EEG abnormalities. Plus, those with pre-existing neurological conditions, like epilepsy, showed more problems too.
Dr. Zulfi Haneef, an assistant professor at Baylor, shares that "It seems there's a connection between the part of the brain located directly next to the virus's entry point in the nose." He reckons more EEG tests and other brain imaging, like MRI scans, should be runs on patients to get a closer peek at the frontal lobes.
But it's not just the virus itself that's responsible for the brain issues. Systemic effects of the infection, like inflammation, low oxygen levels, and funny blood, might play a role in EEG abnormalities in places beyond the frontal lobes.
Now, some COVID-19 survivors report long-term health problems, including something called "brain fog." A study found that individuals who claimed to have had COVID-19 scored lower on a cognitive test than those who hadn't contracted the virus. The researchers figured that the infection may have aged their brains by a decade.
That COVID-19 infections are linked to EEG abnormalities only adds to these concerns. Dr. Haneef agrees, "People think they'll get better and everything will return to normal, but these findings tell us there might be long-term issues to worry about."
On the bright side, nearly 60% of patients showed improvements following repeat EEG tests. The researchers did note some limitations in their analysis, like lack of raw data from individual studies, potential skewing of results due to an emphasis on EEGs performed on patients with neurological symptoms, and the possibility that anti-seizure medications obscured signs of seizures in some EEG traces.
- The review of research has shown a significant correlation between COVID-19 and various neurological symptoms, such as seizures, dizziness, and confusion, which can stem from the virus's impact on the brain or systemic effects of the infection like inflammation and low oxygen levels.
- As the virus seems to have a connection with the part of the brain located next to its entry point in the nose, doctors and researchers are exploring the possibility of long-term effects on the brain, potentially contributing to health-and-wellness issues like brain fog.
- Although COVID-19 survivors might show improvements in their EEG abnormalities over time, the continued monitoring of medical-conditions like epilepsy and neurological-disorders is crucial for a better understanding of the virus's long-term impact on the brain and overall health-and-wellness.
