Cognitive Impacts of COVID Equivalent to 20 Years of Brain Aging

Summary: A new study reveals that 12-18 months after hospitalization for COVID-19, patients show significant cognitive decline comparable to 20 years of aging. MRI scans and blood tests also show brain injury markers and reduced brain volume in these patients. The findings suggest that COVID-19 has lasting effects on brain health, even in those without neurological complications.

New steps have been taken towards a better understanding of the immediate and long-term impact of COVID-19 on the brain in the UK’s largest study to date.

Published in Nature Medicine, the study from researchers led by the University of Liverpool alongside King’s College London and the University of Cambridge as part of the COVID-CNS Consortium shows that 12-18 months after hospitalisation due to COVID-19, patients have worse cognitive function than matched control participants.

Importantly, these findings correlate with reduced brain volume in key areas on MRI scans as well as evidence of abnormally high levels of brain injury proteins in the blood.

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