COVID's Cognitive Costs? Some Patients' Brains May Age 10 Years

Researchers this week cautioned that people recovering from the coronavirus may suffer significant brain function impacts, with the worst cases of the infection linked to mental decline equivalent to the brain aging by 10 years, reports Reuters . A non-peer-reviewed study of 84,285 people, led by Dr. Adam Hampshire at Imperial College London, found that COVID-19 infection is linked to substantial cognitive deficits for months in some severe cases. His team analyzed results from people who completed the Great British Intelligence Test. Their findings were published online on the MedRxiv website. Hampshire says the cognitive deficits were of "substantial effect size," especially among people who'd been hospitalized with COVID-19. However, scientists not directly involved with the study urged viewing the results with caution. "The cognitive function of the participants was not known pre-COVID, and the results also do not reflect long-term recovery — so any effects on cognition may be short term," remarks Joanna Wardlaw, a professor of applied neuroimaging at Edinburgh University.