Oxford University "COVID-19 Causes Brain Damage Even with Mild Symptoms"…Published in Nature Journal

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] A study has found that even mild symptoms of COVID-19 infection can alter the brain structures related to smell, memory, cognition, and emotions.

According to the international academic journal Nature on the 7th (local time), a research team led by Professor Gwenaelle Douaud of the University of Oxford in the UK compared brain images of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 before and after infection and reached this conclusion. The team investigated brain changes in 785 individuals aged 51 to 81 who participated in the UK Biobank, a genetic information collection project in the UK. Among them, 401 tested positive for COVID-19 between two brain imaging sessions. The average period between COVID-19 infection and the subsequent brain imaging was 141 days, allowing the researchers to examine the effects on the brain three months after infection.

Analysis showed that COVID-19 patients experienced a reduction in size in several brain regions. The thickness of the gray matter decreased in the orbitofrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus. The degree of reduction was about 1.3 to 1.8%, compared to the normal annual brain volume loss of 0.2 to 0.3% in middle-aged adults.

The orbitofrontal cortex, which accounts for more than a quarter of the human brain, integrates cognitive and emotional information. The parahippocampal gyrus, a long gyrus located beneath the cerebral hemisphere, is known to be related to smell and episodic memory. The older the individual, the greater the degree of brain region reduction caused by COVID-19 infection.

The researchers also clarified that these brain changes were limited to COVID-19 ‘survivors’ by using COVID-19 positive patients as the control group. The research team stated, "Degenerative diseases may occur due to sensory input deprivation caused by olfactory pathway or nervous system inflammation and loss of smell," and added, "Further investigation is needed to identify which brain regions affected by COVID-19 are vulnerable."

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