Science Daily: Study shows COVID-19's lingering impacts on the brain

COVID-19 patients commonly report having headaches, confusion and other neurological symptoms, but doctors don't fully understand how the disease targets the brain during infection.

Now, researchers at Tulane University have shown in detail how COVID-19 affects the central nervous system, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.

The findings are the first comprehensive assessment of neuropathology associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a nonhuman primate model.

The team of researchers found severe brain inflammation and injury consistent with reduced blood flow or oxygen to the brain, including neuron damage and death. They also found small bleeds in the brain.

Surprisingly, these findings were present in subjects that did not experience severe respiratory disease from the virus.

Fischer's initial findings documenting the extent of damage seen in the brain due to SARS-CoV-2 infection were so striking that she spent the next year further refining the study controls to ensure that the results were clearly attributable to the infection.

"Because the subjects didn't experience significant respiratory symptoms, no one expected them to have the severity of disease that we found in the brain," Fischer said. "But the findings were distinct and profound, and undeniably a result of the infection."

Fischer hopes that this and future studies that investigate how SARS-CoV-2 affects the brain will contribute to the understanding and treatment of patients suffering from the neurological consequences of COVID-19 and long COVID.

*As horrible the virus has been to our world, I am excited that we are finally getting to the point where studies are being done to understand how COVID truly affects us. This study was the first of its kind, where the neuropathy of a nonhuman primate model who had COVID-19 was comprehensively studied. I think it's really interesting that they concluded many people who didn't even struggle with severe respiratory symptoms still exhibited neurological effects from the virus. I am excited to see the future of these studies and to further understand how this virus works.*

Are there any interesting studies that you have read about COVID-19 that shocked you with their results? What are you looking forward to understanding about the virus?

#Coronavirus #Neuropathy #Science

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