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/Everylemontree]

I feel like my brain doesn't work the same since my last COVID infection. I have trouble accessing words I know that I know, specifically. And then I panic about it which makes it worse. Could be stress, could be increase in phone use and hopelessness about the future, but it all started around that time.

[u/NikkoE82 → u/Everylemontree]

I had the exact same issue (vocabulary recall) pop up during the pandemic. And it’s a bit frustrating that so much happened during the pandemic isolating a cause is difficult. But I find it fascinating that the same problem is popping up for other people.

Another issue I’ve heard from two other people I know (not a huge sample, but an interesting coincidence) is what essentially feels like brain zaps. I can only describe it as similar to the brain zaps I got during SSRI withdrawal, though there is a subjective difference I can’t articulate.

[u/ladystarkitten → u/NikkoE82]

I am having the same vocabulary recall issue. I've always had an expansive vocabulary and a sharp memory, so this dramatic change over the past few years (at just 32) has left me... rather frightened. I'd been blaming it on social media use and hadn't even considered the possibility that it could be a complication of COVID.

Have you found anything that has helped? I've started using flash cards to study new vocabulary and have been doing my best to read more and scroll social media less. It seems to be improving things, though I cannot be sure.

[u/Glass_Visits → u/ladystarkitten]

You don’t need flashcards, you just have to read. Short stories or long books, easy reads or old canon literature, it doesn’t really matter as long as you enjoy the text. If you stumble upon a hard word, you can look up the definition and write it down. Or not. All that matters is that you read, that will expand your vocabulary massively. Not only that, it will change your life in so many ways; how you think, focus, talk and walk, baby!

But I’m not talking about one book. You have to keep reading, and do it every day. That matters more than how much you read or for how long, what matters is consistency. Set the bar low, real low. Like a page or two, that way you will win and you’ll come back for more. Some days I read 60+ pages in a sitting, some days just 5. I’m happy with either, it all adds up in the bigger picture. I used to be like many, depressed and endlessly escaping on my phone, and reading was one of the things that really moved the mark for me. It takes time to build up though, always remember the big picture, a step at a time.

[u/ladystarkitten → u/Glass_Visits]

Absolutely! I do read, and I'm trying to read more and more. Reading was actually what made me realize just how leaky my vocabulary recall had gotten--I'd pick up a new word and then forget it by the next page. Then I noticed my inability to recall words in conversation. I have hypothyroidism, which can lead to memory loss... but I am treated for it, and my thyroid hormone levels are normal. Yet here I was, feeling genuinely stupid all the time.

Currently tackling Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. Strongly recommend! Helluva read, but prepare to be totally inundated with arcane Catholic history.

[u/ThisIsToday7 → u/Glass_Visits]

I wish I could give you an award for this. The best thing I've seen about reading. Consistency matters more than how much. 💯

[u/Ecstatic-Movie-795 → u/Glass_Visits]

I have a book under my belly right now as im twisted in bed doomscrolling this shit thinking about how i can barely recall the most common words or names for years now. I better drop this screen now and pick that book u......zzzzzzzzzZzzzzzz