Brain's Frontal Lobes Electrical Activity Potentially Affected by COVID-19
Catching Brain Activity with COVID-19
Brain disorders are shockingly common in people seriously affected by COVID-19, according to research. These incidents involve a wide range of issues, such as headaches, bouts of confusion, delirium, and seizures.
Medical professionals may guide patients with such symptoms through an electroencephalography (EEG) test, a procedure that involves placing electrodes on the scalp to read electrical brain activity.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, and the University of Pittsburgh, PA, used EEG test results from 617 patients, as reported in 84 studies, to dive deeper into COVID-19's effects on the brain.
Approximately one-third of the identified abnormalities were located in the frontal lobes, which is adjacent to the nose – the most likely entry point for the virus.
Dr. Zulfi Haneef, assistant professor of neurology/neurophysiology at Baylor, believes this correlation suggests that conducting EEGs on a larger range of patients and other brain imaging tests, such as MRIs or CT scans, could be crucial to getting a close look at the brain's frontal lobe.
However, the research indicates that the virus might not be solely responsible for the damage. Systemic effects of the infection, like inflammation, low oxygen levels, sticky blood, and cardiac arrest, may also contribute to the EEG abnormalities found beyond the frontal lobes.
The study found "diffuse slowing" in the background electrical activity of the whole brain in around 70% of patients.
While some people who recover from COVID-19 say they still experience ongoing issues, such as "brain fog," research suggests that the virus may cause long-term cognitive decline. A recent study found that COVID-19 survivors performed less well on cognitive tests than those who did not contract the virus.
"These findings tell us that there might be long-term issues," says Dr. Haneef. While improvements were seen in over half of patients with follow-up EEG tests, the study did have some limitations, such as access to raw data from individual studies, omitted normal EEGs, and potential skewing of results due to focusing on patients with neurological symptoms.
The long-term neurological effects associated with COVID-19 often involve cognitive dysfunction, neuropsychiatric symptoms, structural brain changes, an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases, and the influence of pre-existing conditions like overweight and obesity.
EEG findings in COVID-19 patients with neurological manifestations typically show diffuse slowing and epileptiform abnormalities, indicating ongoing brain dysfunction. These abnormalities could be the result of inflammation, hypoxia, or other brain insults related to the virus.
- The research on COVID-19's effects on the brain reveals a high incidence of epilepsy seizures and other neurological disorders among patients, including symptoms like headaches, confusion, and seizures.
- The study conducted by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh found that approximately one-third of the identified brain abnormalities were located in the frontal lobes, which could be due to the virus's entry point being adjacent to this area.
- While COVID-19 may not be solely responsible for the damage to the brain, the virus has been linked to long-term cognitive decline, mental health issues, and an increased risk of neurological disorders, requiring further exploration and medical-conditions monitoring in the health-and-wellness domain.
- CBD, a potential treatment for various medical-conditions, including neurological disorders and mental-health issues, could be a promising avenue to explore for managing long-term neurological effects associated with COVID-19, as research continues in the science community.
