COVID-19 Infection Potentially Disrupts Electrical Functioning in Frontal Lobes of Brain
COVID-19 and the Brain: A Look at EEG Abnormalities and Neurological Symptoms
Hey there! Ever wondered how COVID-19 might be messing with your brain? Here's a lowdown on some research that's shedding light on the connection between the virus, neurological symptoms, and abnormalities picked up by electroencephalography (EEG) tests.
First off, let's tackle the numbers: around 15-25% of people with severe COVID-19 may experience neurological symptoms, like headaches, confusions, seizures, and strokes. When these individuals start showing these symptoms, doctors might refer them for an EEG test to monitor the electrical activity of the brain.
A team of researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh dug into EEG results from 617 patients reported in 84 different studies. The median age of these patients was 61.3 years, with two-thirds being male.
When analyzing the EEG results, the researchers found that the slowing of brain waves and abnormal electrical discharges were common findings. Interestingly, the extent of these EEG abnormalities was found to positively correlate with the severity of the disease and whether patients had preexisting neurological conditions, such as epilepsy.
One of the co-authors of the study, Dr. Zulfi Haneef, pointed out that the virus might not be directly responsible for all the damage. Systemic effects of the infection, such as inflammation, low oxygen levels, and cardiac arrest, could also play a role in EEG abnormalities that extend beyond the frontal lobes.
In this study, around a third of the abnormal findings were in the frontal lobes of the brain. Given the most likely entry point for the virus is the nose, Dr. Haneef suggests that there's a connection between the part of the brain located directly next to the entry point. He recommends exploring EEG tests and other brain imaging, like MRI or CT scans, on a wider range of patients to gain a closer look at the frontal lobe.
Now, let's talk about "brain fog" that some people experience even after recovering from COVID-19. This condition, along with other long-term health issues, is now known as "long COVID." A recent study found that individuals who believe they've had COVID-19 performed less well on an online cognitive test compared to those who didn't believe they contracted the virus. The authors suggest that the infection may have aged people cognitively by around a decade.
While this study doesn't definitively prove that the infection causes long-term cognitive decline, it does highlight concerns about lasting effects on the brain. Dr. Haneef agrees, stating that the findings add to these concerns, further supporting the idea that there might be long-term issues after recovering from COVID-19.
On a positive note, around 56.8% of those who had follow-up EEG tests showed improvements. However, the study had several limitations, such as lack of access to raw data, doctors potentially omitting to report many normal EEGs, and doctors giving anti-seizure medications that could have obscured signs of seizures in the EEG traces.
In case you're interested, here are some neat facts: neurological symptoms have been associated with COVID-19, cognitive impairment can be a lingering effect, preexisting neurological conditions might influence the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, EEG abnormalities in the frontal lobes could be linked to the neurological symptoms of COVID-19, and cognitive load affects frontal lobe activity.
Sources:1. COVID-19 and neurological symptoms:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7114854/2. Cognitive impairment in COVID-19 patients:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-020-0656-03. Frontal lobe dysfunction and post-COVID-19 cognitive assessments:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23969873209574384. Neurophysiological changes during cognitive load:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00381/full
- COVID-19's effects on the brain extend to mental health, as some recovering patients experience 'brain fog', a lingering symptom now known as 'long COVID'.
- The infection might also correlate with the severity of neurological disorders like epilepsy, as EEG abnormalities in these patients have been found to positively associate with the disease's severity.
- According to a study, around 15-25% of severe COVID-19 cases might present with neurological symptoms such as seizures and strokes, triggering medical-condition investigations such as EEG tests.
- The science behind COVID-19 and its impact on the brain is still under exploration. A recent study suggests that the infection may cause cognitive aging by around a decade, raising concerns about long-term health-and-wellness issues.
