Previous COVID infection linked to lower brain oxygen levels, cognitive problems: study – CTV
March 7, 2023
In a new Canadian study, researchers found that not only did participants who previously had COVID-19 perform worse on two specific cognitive tasks, but brain imaging showed that during these tasks, there was a lack of oxygen reaching the sections of the brain that would normally be fully engaged.
The results shed new light on how COVID-19 impacts the brain, with serious implications for the field of long COVID.
“We are the first to show reduced oxygen uptake in the brain during a cognitive task in the months following a symptomatic COVID-19 infection,” Dr. Peter Hall, researcher in the School of Public Health Sciences at Waterloo and lead author of the study, said in a press release. “This is important because a lack of sufficient oxygen supply is thought to be one of the mechanisms by which COVID-19 may cause cognitive impairment.”
