How Long COVID Impacts the Brain

There has been a lot of uncertainty over the last couple years as the world navigates COVID and its lasting effects. One of the most commonly emerging areas of concern is the way “Long COVID” (the lingering effects, even after the initial infectious period) impacts the brain. There is a lot we still don’t know about the ways the virus affects thinking and cognition. However, here are a couple of the findings from recent studies:

How COVID Impacts Brain Function

Research indicates that COVID turns on inflammation and affects neurological pathways even long after the infectious period. These inflammatory cells enter your brain and impact the way your neurons communicate—or even survive.

Studies show that this happens even with mild infections, where individuals are not hospitalized or experiencing severe symptoms. As one article puts it, “It’s like a rock weighing down on the accelerator of a car, spinning its engine out of control. All of this causes injury to many cells, including neurons.”

A study published in March of 2022 found that “even mild COVID can lead to an overall reduction in the size of the brain, with notable effects in the frontal cortex and limbic system.” While we do not know exactly why or how COVID infection alters brain structure in these areas, the effects are life-altering for many individuals. These areas of the brain regulate emotional stability, memory, planning, executive function, and so much more, so any changes are going to have lasting effects.

Effects of COVID on Brain Performance

Many individuals have this idea that Long COVID only affects older adults—but that is not the case. Many of the occurrences of neurological symptoms are coming from the 20-50 year old age bracket, not the over 65 crowd. Here is more of what research is currently showing about the effects of COVID on the brain:

• 20 to 30 percent of patients report brain fog three months after their initial infection, as do 65 to 85 percent of the long-haulers who stay sick for much longer.
• Even mild infections show reduced brain size and thickness of gray matter. These changes are comparable to a decade of aging.
• Some research points to a connection between COVID infection and new onset of Alzheimer’s. In one study, for every 1,000 seniors with COVID, seven will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in a year (which is slightly higher than the typical 5/1,000 rate).

Brain Fog & Executive Functioning Skills

Brain fog is a somewhat elusive term, but it is becoming more commonly recognized in medical circles as a long-term effect of COVID infection. In essence, brain fog is almost always an issue with executive function. These are the core mental abilities that you use to plan, focus, and perform tasks on a daily basis (including attention, working memory, logic & reasoning, and more.)

This is not a new phenomenon; many of us have experienced this lack of ability to focus to some level. But this is something even deeper. Thousands of individuals are experiencing crippling brain fog to the extent that their quality of life is disrupted.

While we do not know exactly how the brain will recover from these infections (only time will tell), the good news is this: neuroplasticity and the ability of the brain to build new neural connections is foundational in your biology.

Improving focus, memory, and thinking skills is not a new thing, even though this need for it is so new and unknown. If you or someone you know is struggling with COVID-related cognitive issues, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be happy to talk more about how brain training addresses these foundational cognitive skills!

A Personal Story from a Client with COVID-Related Cognitive Issues

Check out what Judi, a client from Charlottesville, VA had to share about her experience:

“Following a hospital stay for long Covid, I became aware that LearningRx was offering a program to help clients that had experienced this disease. I enrolled! The program was creative, and I actually enjoyed the cognitive challenge of each session as I advanced through the skills . 

“Following this program I feel that I am now much more productive than I used to be and it’s easier to adjust to changes in routines. I am much appreciative of the support I received from all of the staff at this facility and especially that of my personal facilitator, Ana, who I can’t thank enough for her support, intelligence and creativity in helping me through some of the skill sets. It was truly enjoyable working with her and the other staff members. 

“I feel that this program was most helpful in my return to what feels like my normal productive baseline self.”