According to an Oxford University study, COVID-19 can cause the brain to shrink, reduce grey matter in regions that control emotion and memory, and damage areas that control the sense of smell. The scientists stated that the effects were seen in people who had not been hospitalised with COVID, and that whether the effects could be partially reversed or if they would persist in the long term required further research.
"There is strong evidence for brain-related abnormalities in COVID-19," the researchers wrote in a study published on Monday. Even in mild cases, participants in the study showed "a worsening of executive function" responsible for focus and organisation, and brain sizes shrank by 0.2 to 2% on average.
The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Nature, looked at brain changes in 785 people aged 51 to 81 who had their brains scanned twice, including 401 people who got COVID between scans. The second scan was performed an average of 141 days after the first. The study was carried out when the Alpha variant was dominant in the UK and is unlikely to have included anyone infected with the Delta variant.
The study found that some COVID patients experienced "brain fog" or mental cloudiness, which included impairments in attention, concentration, speed of information processing, and memory.
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