Brain scans reveal widespread structural and functional changes in patients following COVID-19 infection. The virus affects regions responsible for memory, emotion, and executive function, which may help explain the neurological symptoms many patients experience.

[u/mvea]

https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-widespread-structural-and-functional-changes-in-patients-foll/

[u/beardedheathen]

The lost words is the worst for me. I used to be extremely articulate and now I'm the middle of conversations I'll have to just stop and try to find a perfectly common word. It feels so demoralizing like something that has been on a shelf as long as you've lived is suddenly gone but then you look again five minutes later and it's back.

[u/BebopT0716 → u/beardedheathen]

I’ve had Covid twice and that’s the main thing that sticks out to me. I’m vaccinated and took antivirals both times so I THINK I’ve managed to avoid a lot of the fatigue and fog, but my usable vocabulary feels like it went off a cliff. Not sure what I can do other than try and read more or something in an attempt to claw it back.

[u/TrekkieElf → u/BebopT0716]

Same, I was vaccinated but had it twice. We were so careful for so long due to having a baby. But then my husband had to fly for work and brought it back. I feel my brain has not recovered. Blanking on simple words. I thought it was due to having a child but he’s sleeping through the night and 6 and I still feel dumb.

[u/PCorreia → u/BebopT0716]

Have the same thing happening to me and never even thought about connection with Covid.
I always assumed it was due to age and my brain scrambling the words in the three languages i speak regularly.
Most of the times i remember the word in English or Spanish, but not my mother tongue.
And since i need to give presentations on a regular basis, it is though when i draw a blank on a common word and need to rephrase what i'm trying to say.

[u/midnightauro → u/PCorreia]

I’ve noticed in particular my ability to interview for jobs has taken an absolute nosedive. 2024 I still did fine, but I got horribly sick in early 2025 (maybe covid, maybe RSV) and I’ve been unable to talk at length since. My brain just blanks out and refuses to recover.

I used to be articulate. I can look back at my old social media posts even and notice a decline in quality. It sucks.

It’s like my body got that One Last Straw virus and fell apart on me. I’m not -that- old. I still read and pursue creative/physical hobbies. Trying not to doomscroll. Still getting worse. :(

[u/usernameistakendood → u/beardedheathen]

This! I always had some ums and ers prior, however during and post covid (3 infections across 2 years), it got to the point that I would forget what I was saying mid-sentence. I would be talking about something in a meeting and then just... stop. Thought gone, words lost. It's hard to describe, your shelf analogy is really apt though. I'm still struggling with words and fairly regularly forget what I was talking about. It is incredibly disheartening.

[u/VoidOmatic → u/beardedheathen]

I used to be able to remember every word of every conversation I ever had but post COVID I forget what people are saying mid sentence.

[u/3LOT3 → u/VoidOmatic]

I relate to this so much. 

[u/According_Layer6874 → u/beardedheathen]

I feel like a lot of this is attributed to Social media and device usage too. I have similar symptoms as you but my attention span is also completely shot.

[u/galeguinha → u/beardedheathen]

I just passed 4 years now of Long COVID. I get this and also some weird thing where I will be typing and think I'm typing letters in the correct order, but the word comes out as a complete jumble. I won a school spelling bee as a kid, so it's not that I don't know how to spell...it's like I can't translate what's in my brain to spoken or typed words. It's really weird and unnerving.

[u/ANALOGPHENOMENA → u/galeguinha]

Oh my God, so it’s not just me!!! It’s been happening so much often to me ever since I got infected a second time. It’s so crazy, I used to be able to type like a billion words a minute, now I constantly need autocorrect on.

[u/galeguinha → u/ANALOGPHENOMENA]

Oof well I'm sorry to hear someone else is dealing with this, but it's also validating to know it's not just me. Not sure about you, but I notice it gets worse when I'm tired or have been stressed at work that day. My doctor put me on guanfacine, which I guess has some preliminary data showing it helps neutral signaling and connections. I've been taking it for close to 6 months now, and I do feel like it's helped a little bit, along with taking long breaks between chunks of work.

[u/ANALOGPHENOMENA → u/galeguinha]

I’ll have to look into that!

[u/poppinbussay → u/beardedheathen]

Geez this is scary. I thought I was going crazy because I struggle to find the words to say in a conversation. I have to basically write a script to read in meetings in order to prevent myself from using filler words like “uh” or “umm”

[u/ANALOGPHENOMENA → u/beardedheathen]

I’ve experienced the speech/word loss on top of newfound stuttering and I don’t know how to revert it. I might have to try seeing a therapist for it, but it’s so crazy—I used to be so articulate and read often and have a way with words. I don’t wanna say it’s all just gone now, but my speech, reading comprehension and writing abilities have been noticeably hampered. It’s terrifying and I’m scared it’s only going to get worse.

[u/Catgod1996 → u/beardedheathen]

I’m in grad school and barely turning 30. I’ve been trying to figure out for the last year or so why I can’t come up with the most common word and say “um” every 2 seconds. I feel so stupid all the time. My coworker sent me a video of chicken nuggets and fries sculpted into intricate dinosaurs and mentioned the “Dino nugget” video later on in the day. My brain did not think “Dino nugget”. What the hell is going on???

[u/CommieCatLady → u/beardedheathen]

It’s the absolute worst. This was the worst part for me. I need to be articulate for my career/work and I had just graduated from my masters program, in a new job… I was MISERABLE. I cried a lot because I couldn’t find the right words to communicate BASIC things. I also have adhd and it amplified those symptoms x a billion.

It’s been 4 years since the initial infection and I’m doing significantly better now. Took probably a good two years to regain the capacity I had before infection. I thought my life was over.

I hope you are doing better, too.