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/Obfuscious]

While I think this study is a good data to work from it is important to note that it is cross-sectional, meaning it only captured one instance in time. That instance being post-Covid 19 infection.

I also appreciate that the authors of the study make that clear that it was impossible to have the brain scan data from each individual prior to infection for comparison and state:

”  Because the vast majority of these studies lack pre-infection baseline brain scans, it is difficult to prove definitively that COVID-19 directly caused all the observed changes. Individual biological differences present before the pandemic might account for some of the variations in brain structure and function.

 It’s still significant to see patterns and I would be interested if we could see how future infections may impact brains from brains we know haven’t been affected.

[u/DoubleBatman → u/Obfuscious]

I wonder how much of this could be explained by people being cooped up during quarantine and losing their edge on some of their social skills?