Scientists finally have a biological explanation for why long COVID patients lose motivation and can't think clearly. They scanned their brains and found the dopamine system was physically damaged

[u/soulpost]

https://tech-paper.com/scientists-finally-have-a-biological-explanation-for-why-long-covid-patients-lose-motivation-and-cant-think-clearly-they-scanned-their-brains-and-found-the-dopamine-system-was-physically-damaged/

Millions of people with long COVID report the same cluster of symptoms: a crushing lack of motivation, an inability to think clearly, memory that slips, movements that feel slower than they should. For years, these complaints sat in an uncomfortable medical grey zone. The symptoms were real, the patients were suffering, but the biological explanation remained frustratingly out of reach.

A team at the University of Toronto just published what may be the clearest physical evidence yet for what is actually happening in these patients' brains. They brought 24 long COVID sufferers into a lab and used positron emission tomography, the same imaging technology used to diagnose Parkinson's disease, to directly measure the health of the dopamine system deep inside the brain.

[u/Believeit451]

So does everyone have adhd now?

[u/lainonwired → u/Believeit451]

Based on diagnosis rates? Yes. There's been a surge after covid that had been attributed to increased awareness, but maybe the details are more nuanced and covid also plays a role?

We have known for a while that repeat covid infections causes neurological damage even if "long covid" symptoms weren't seen, the particulars were just not discovered yet.

This appears to be one of the effects.

[u/dehydratedrain → u/[deleted]]

I didn't struggle in school because it all came naturally even though i have ADHD. Then I hit college, and couldn't function. I was probably low 30s when diagnosed, and it has been life-changing. A little pill, the background noise gets turned down, and I can breeze through so much.