COVID-19 may lead to disruptions in the electrical activity of the frontal lobes within the brain.
Nosy Neuro Study: The brain's electrical activity can provide crucial insight into the impact of COVID-19, and a recent review suggests that abnormalities in the frontal lobes are prevalent among patients exhibiting neurological symptoms associated with the virus.
Scope of COVID's Reach: Approximately 15-25% of patients wrestling with severe COVID-19 may experience lacunes like headaches, confusion, impaired consciousness, seizures, and strokes [1]. These patients may undergo tests like EEG (Electroencephalography) to scan their noggin's electrical activity.
EEG Shakedown: To better understand COVID-19's effect on the brain, researchers looked at EEG results from 617 patients across 84 studies. They found that the most common EEG abnormalities were slow brain waves and abnormal electrical discharges, with about a third of the abnormalities concentrating in the frontal lobes of the brain.
Interestingly, the severity of the disease and the presence of preexisting neurological conditions, such as epilepsy, directly correlated with the extent of EEG abnormalities [2].
Infection or Infection's Bypass? The virus may not directly cause all the observed brain damage. Instead, other factors like systemic inflammation, low oxygen levels, uncommonly "sticky" blood, and cardiac arrest, may contribute to EEG abnormalities [2].
Brain Fog Fiasco: Some post-COVID patients report lingering health problems, now labeled as "long COVID." One pesky issue is "brain fog." A recent, albeit unpublished study posted on the preprint server MedRxiv suggested that post-COVID individuals performed worse on cognitive tests compared to those assuming they hadn't caught the virus. Surprisingly, the study seemed to imply that the infection might age people cognitively by around a decade [3].
Long Haul: Dr. Zulfi Haneef, co-author of the review, believes that the findings highlight concerns of long-term issues related to brain function. He explains, "People might imagine they'll recover, and everything will be back to normal, but these discoveries hint at possible long-term problems" [3]. On a more positive note, more than half of the patients who had follow-up EEG tests showed improvements [4].
Limitations and Concerns: The review faces limitations, such as the lack of raw data access and the possibility that doctors omitted reporting some normal EEGs or performed many more EEGs on patients displaying neurological symptoms [5]. Additionally, the administration of anti-seizure medication to suspected seizure patients may have obscured signs of seizures in their EEG traces [5].
🔥Here's the link to the latest on the coronavirus and COVID-19: [coronavirus updates]
- The coronavirus and COVID-19 have been linked to various neurological symptoms, such as epilepsy seizures and brain fog, according to a recent study.
- Health-and-wellness experts emphasize the need for continued research on the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and neurological disorders, as the disease seems to exacerbate pre-existing conditions like epilepsy.
- In addition to directly causing brain damage, COVID-19 may have indirect effects on the brain through systemic inflammation, low oxygen levels, and other factors, potentially leading to abnormalities in EEG readings.
- While concerns about long-term neurological issues related to COVID-19 persist, it's promising to note that many patients who underwent follow-up EEG tests showed improvements over time.
