July 30, 2021 – Infection from COVID-19 can have a significant negative impact on intelligence, according to a new large-scale study from the UK. 19 patients.
The researchers analyzed data from 81,337 people who took the Great British Intelligence Test in 2020. Of these, around 13,000 said they were infected with COVID-19, and 275 of them had completed the pre- and post-infection test.
Those previously infected with the coronavirus found it more difficult to complete tasks related to reasoning, problem solving, and room planning, the authors said. The researchers checked age, education, and general mood.
“These results are consistent with reports of long-term COVID, where ‘brain fog’, difficulty concentrating and finding the right words are common,” the authors write. “Recovery from COVID-19 infection can be associated with particularly pronounced problems related to aspects of higher cognitive or ‘executive’ function.”
Working memory span and emotional processing did not appear to be affected.
How bad the cognitive decline appeared to be related to the severity of the infection. The researchers said those who were put on a ventilator when they were sick had the greatest effects. On average, her score decreased by 7 IQ points.
“The extent of the observed deficit was not insignificant,” the authors write. However, they said that brain imaging is required before firm conclusions can be drawn.
“It is important to be careful in deriving a neurobiological or psychological basis for the observed deficits without brain imaging data, although the assessment tasks used here have shown that they relate to normal functional activity and connectivity to various networks within the human brain map as well as structural network damage, ”they wrote.
The researchers speculate that a high fever and difficulty breathing may have contributed to the cognitive decline. But these symptoms were long gone in most of the study participants – the authors found that only 4.8% of them reported persistent symptoms.
The study offers insights into part of post-COVID – a disease that has been closely followed by the CDC. According to the agency, long-term COVID-19 can have a number of persistent symptoms several months after infection, including shortness of breath, headache, joint or muscle pain, dizziness, and difficulty thinking or concentrating, also known as the “brain.” Fog.”
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