Brain's frontal lobes electrical activity potentially disrupted by COVID-19 infection.
Nearly a third of patients with severe COVID-19 experience neurological symptoms, according to researchers who analyzed data from hundreds of patients. The study, published in the journal Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy, found that EEG tests often reveal abnormalities in the frontal lobes of the brain.
Approximately 15-25% of patients with severe COVID-19 may develop neurological symptoms, such as headaches, confusion, delirium, impaired consciousness, seizures, and strokes. Doctors may refer patients who are experiencing neurological symptoms for an EEG test, which involves placing electrodes on the scalp to monitor the electrical activity of the brain.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, and the University of Pittsburgh, PA, analyzed EEG results from 617 patients, reported in 84 different studies. The median age of patients who underwent an EEG was 61.3 years, and two-thirds were males.
The most common findings that the researchers identified were slowing of brain waves and abnormal electrical discharges. The extent of the EEG abnormalities positively correlated with the severity of the disease and whether the patients had preexisting neurological conditions, such as epilepsy.
Dr. Zulfi Haneef, assistant professor of neurology/neurophysiology at Baylor and one of the study's co-authors, suggests that the virus may have a connection to the frontal lobes of the brain, given that it is the most likely entry point for the virus through the nose.
The virus may not be directly responsible for all the damage, as systemic effects of the infection, such as inflammation, low oxygen levels, unusually "sticky" blood, and cardiac arrest, may play a role in EEG abnormalities that extend beyond the frontal lobes.
In addition to EEG abnormalities, some people who have recovered from COVID-19 report ongoing health problems, now labeled "long COVID." One of these issues is "brain fog." A recent study found that individuals who claim to have had COVID-19 performed less well on an online cognitive test than those who did not believe they contracted the virus. However, this study did not prove that the infection caused long-term cognitive decline.
Overall, the researchers note that more severe COVID-19 infections are associated with increased inflammatory and immune-mediated brain injury, which correlates with EEG abnormalities, including those in frontal lobe activity. These EEG abnormalities could reflect underlying encephalopathy, neuronal injury, or altered cortical excitability due to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further prospective studies are needed to quantify frontal EEG changes and their direct correlation with COVID-19 severity.
- Severe COVID-19 patients may experience neurological symptoms, such as seizures, impaired consciousness, and strokes, which could potentially lead to EEG tests for further evaluation.
- Researchers have identified several EEG abnormalities associated with severe COVID-19, including slowing of brain waves and abnormal electrical discharges, especially in the frontal lobes of the brain.
- The connection between COVID-19 and neurological conditions, such as epilepsy, may be emphasized by the positive correlation between the extent of EEG abnormalities and the severity of the disease, with preexisting neurological conditions contributing to this correlation.
