A recent study in NatureTrusted Source found subtle changes in the brains of people with mild to moderate COVID-19 after the initial 4 weeks or acute phase of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study showed that individuals with SARS-CoV-2 showed greater brain tissue damage and shrinkage of brain regions at an average of 4.5 months after their COVID-19 diagnosis.

Dr. Maxime Taquet, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the study, said: “It is well established that [SARS-CoV-2] infection is associated with subsequent risks of neurological and psychiatric problems in some people, including brain fog, loss of taste and smell, depression, and psychosis. But why this occurs remains largely unknown.”

“This study starts to shed light on this important question by showing that brain regions connected to the ‘smell center’ of the brain can shrink after COVID-19 in some people.”

The study’s co-author, Professor Naomi Allen, chief scientist at UK Biobank, noted, “[This] is the only study in the world to be able to demonstrate “before versus after” changes in the brain associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.”