Brain's frontal lobes' electrical activity may experience disruption due to COVID-19
News: COVID-19 and EEG Abnormalities in the Frontal Lobes
A review of numerous research studies indicates that a significant number of patients with severe COVID-19 exhibit abnormalities in their frontal lobes, as revealed by electroencephalography (EEG) tests. These findings could point to a potential link between the virus and brain complications.
Over 15-25% of patients with severe COVID-19 may experience neurological symptoms, including headaches, confusion, confusion, impaired consciousness, seizures, and strokes. Medical professionals often refer such patients for EEG tests, which measure the electrical activity of the brain by attaching electrodes to the scalp.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, and the University of Pittsburgh, PA, analyzed results from 617 patients, derived from 84 separate studies, to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the brain. The patients' median age was 61.3 years, with two-thirds being male.
The most common abnormalities observed were slowing of brain waves and unusual electrical discharges. Moreover, the extent of these EEG abnormalities corresponded positively with the severity of the disease and the presence of preexisting neurological conditions, such as epilepsy.
More than a third of the abnormal findings were linked to the frontal lobes of the brain. According to Dr. Zulfi Haneef, assistant professor of neurology/neurophysiology at Baylor, this could be due to the virus's entry point being in the nose, as the frontal lobe is located nearby. Dr. Haneef suggests that EEG tests and other brain-imaging techniques like MRI or CT scans, should be utilized more extensively to examine the frontal lobe.
While it's unconfirmed if the virus is directly responsible for all the identified damage, systemic effects resulting from the infection, such as inflammation, low oxygen levels, unusually "sticky" blood, and potential cardiac arrest, may play a role in EEG abnormalities that extend beyond the frontal lobes. The study discovered "diffuse slowing" in the background electrical activity of the whole brain in nearly 70% of patients.
People recovering from COVID-19 have reported a range of ongoing health challenges, collectively known as "long COVID." One such issue is "brain fog." A recent study, though yet to be peer-reviewed, found that individuals who believed they had contracted the virus performed less well on an online cognitive test compared to those who did not. The authors suggest that COVID-19 may have an aging effect on cognitive skills by approximately a decade.
Experts contacted by the Science Media Centre in London suggest that this study does not establish a direct connection between the infection and long-term cognitive decline. However, it does raise concerns about potential enduring effects on the brain. Dr. Haneef shares these concerns, stating that the identification of EEG abnormalities associated with the neurological symptoms of COVID-19 provides further evidence to support these worries.
On a positive note, 56.8% of those who underwent follow-up EEG tests exhibited improvements. The researchers acknowledge several limitations in their analysis, such as the lack of raw data access from individual studies and potential omissions or skewing of normal EEG results due to selective reporting or the administration of anti-seizure medications.
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- The correlation between COVID-19 and neurological disorders, such as epilepsy seizures and mental health issues, is a growing area of interest in the health-and-wellness field.
- The coronavirus, as indicated by recent research, may have an impact on neurological functions and incite neurological disorders like epilepsy, potentially leading to seizures.
- In the context of COVID-19, it's essential to consider not just the physical symptoms but also the potential neurological consequences, such as frontal lobe abnormalities discovered through EEG tests.
- As science continues to unravel the complexities of COVID-19, it has become increasingly evident that the virus can have long-term effects on various mental-health aspects and neurological disorders, like epilepsy, as well as impacting cognitive skills, contributing to issues like "brain fog."
