COVID-19 May Affect Electrical Signals in Frontal Lobes of the Brain
A review of research hints that some patients with severe COVID-19 exhibit abnormalities in the frontal lobes of their brains, as revealed by EEG tests.
Coronavirus data
Numbers crunch: Approximately 15-25% of patients with severe COVID-19 could experience neurological symptoms such as headaches, confusion, and seizures.
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Once they're hit with neurological symptoms, doctors might recommend an EEG test, which involves placing electrodes on the scalp to monitor brain activity.
Exploring the COVID brain
By analyzing data from 617 patients across 84 studies, researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh took a closer look at how the devilish virus messes with our grey matter. On average, the patients whose brains were scanned were 61.3-year-old men.
Uncovering the truth: The most common findings were slow brain waves and abnormal electrical discharges.
Here's the kicker: The more severe the virus, the more pronounced the EEG abnormalities. Patients with pre-existing neurological conditions were not spared either.
Up for grabs: The study was published in the journal Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy.
Wide-ranging damages
While the virus might be the culprit behind the damage in the frontal lobes, systemic consequences of the infection can also play a part in EEG abnormalities in other brain areas. Possible contributing factors include inflammation, low oxygen levels, sticky blood, and cardiac arrest.
Reality check: The study identified "diffuse slowing" in the background electrical activity of the whole brain in nearly 70% of patients, raising concerns about the neurological impacts of the virus.
Long COVID and brain fog
Recovered from the virus? Don’t count on your brain to bounce back to normal right away. Some people are reporting lingering health issues, which they've dubbed "long COVID." Brain fog is one of them.
Sneaky side-effects: A study (not yet peer-reviewed) suggests that individuals who believe they've had COVID performed poorly on an online cognitive test compared to those who didn't think they contracted the virus. Researchers speculate that the infection may speed up cognitive aging by roughly a decade.
Path to recovery: While the study does not prove that COVID causes long-term cognitive decline, it adds to growing concerns about the virus's lasting effects on the brain.
Silver lining: The research also discovered that improvements were seen in nearly 57% of patients who had follow-up EEG tests.
On the flip side
The study had limitations, such as lack of access to raw data from individual studies, doctors potentially omitting to report normal EEGs, and an uneven distribution of EEG tests towards patients with neurological symptoms. Also, doctors may have been giving anti-seizure medications to patients they believed were having seizures, potentially obscuring signs in their EEG traces.
Looking ahead: Further research is needed to clarify the relationship between COVID-19 and EEG abnormalities in the frontal lobes.
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Neurological symptoms such as seizures can occur in approximately 15-25% of patients with severe COVID-19. Researchers have analyzed data from multiple studies to explore the effects of COVID-19 on the brain, finding that the virus can cause abnormalities in brain waves and electrical discharges, particularly in the frontal lobes. These abnormalities can be more pronounced with the severity of the virus, and patients with pre-existing neurological conditions may also be affected. Long COVID, with symptoms like brain fog, has been reported, and while there's no definitive proof, some studies suggest that COVID may cause long-term cognitive decline. However, improvements have been observed in nearly 57% of patients who had follow-up EEG tests. Despite the findings, further research is needed to clarify the relationship between COVID-19 and EEG abnormalities in the frontal lobes.
