Brain's Frontal Lobes Affected by COVID-19, Altering Electrical Activity
Approximately 15-25% of patients with severe COVID-19 experience neurological symptoms, according to recent studies. These symptoms can include headaches, confusion, delirium, impaired consciousness, seizures, and strokes.
To investigate the neurological impact of COVID-19, researchers analyzed EEG results from 617 patients, reported in 84 different studies. The research, published in the journal Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy, revealed that around a third of the abnormalities observed were in the frontal lobes of the brain.
"We know that the most likely entry point for the virus is the nose, so there seems to be a connection between the part of the brain that is located directly next to that entry point," says Dr. Zulfi Haneef, assistant professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine.
The researchers found that the extent of the EEG abnormalities positively correlated with the severity of the disease and whether the patients had preexisting neurological conditions. This suggests the possible long-term neurological effects of COVID-19.
However, it's important to note that the virus may not be directly responsible for all the damage. Systemic effects of the infection, such as inflammation, low oxygen levels, unusually "sticky" blood, and cardiac arrest, may also contribute to EEG abnormalities.
Broadly speaking, EEG abnormalities in COVID-19 patients can affect the entire brain, with approximately 70% of patients showing "diffuse slowing" in the background electrical activity.
Some COVID-19 survivors have reported ongoing health problems, now labeled "long COVID." Among these is "brain fog." A recent unpublished study suggests that individuals who claim to have had COVID may have a cognitive decline of around a decade. While this study does not prove that the infection caused long-term cognitive decline, it does add to concerns about the lasting effects of COVID-19 on the brain.
On a positive note, around 56.8% of those who had follow-up EEG tests showed improvements. The researchers acknowledge that their analysis had limitations, including lack of access to raw data from individual studies and the potential skewing of results due to doctors' selection bias.
Doctors may also have given anti-seizure medications to patients who they suspected were having seizures, potentially obscuring signs of seizures in their EEG traces. Further research is needed to confirm and expand on these findings.
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- The research on the neurological impact of COVID-19 shows that around a third of abnormalities observed in EEG results were in the frontal lobes of the brain, possibly indicating a connection between the virus and these regions.
- The extent of the EEG abnormalities in COVID-19 patients positively correlates with the severity of the disease and the presence of preexisting neurological conditions, suggesting the potential long-term effects of COVID-19.
- Besides its direct impact, the virus may also contribute to EEG abnormalities through systemic effects, such as inflammation, low oxygen levels, and unusually "sticky" blood, which may lead to other health complications like seizures.
- COVID-19 survivors may experience long-lasting effects on their brain, with ongoing health problems like brain fog and cognitive decline approximating a decade, although more research is needed to confirm these findings.
