Having Covid can lead to significant changes to the brain, a new study has found.
The brains of 46 people who caught Covid within the last six months were analysed by scientists using MRI scans. They then compared them to 30 people who had never caught the infection.
Most people who had recovered from Covid had changes of tiny blood vessels in the frontal lobe and brain stem areas, the scientists said. These are involved in certain cognitive skills like language expression and voluntary movements. However, those who did not have Covid-19 did not experience these changes.
Bharat Biswal, professor of biomedical engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology and a co-investigator of the research, said the team are looking at how Covid-19 may have impacted other functions.
They’re also analysing how underlying conditions may influence the way the brain was impacted by Covid. Some of those involved in the study, for example, were found to have high blood pressure or other chronic conditions. The scientists are exploring if people with these underlying health issues had different levels of brain changes compared to people who did not have these conditions.
“Covid-19 has multi-dimensional effects on the body,” Prof. Biswal said. He added that the results “provide an initial idea of where to look and what parameters to look at” for scientists looking a the impacts of Long Covid.
Prof. Biswal and his team now want to analyse the volunteers in the study to see how long the changes will last.
Previous research by the team identified structural changes in the brains of people who’d had Covid, potentially impacting emotions and memory.
The latest findings were shared at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting.