People with long-Covid exhibit patterns of changes in the brain that are different from fully recovered Covid-19 patients, according to research.
The results based on diffusion microstructure imaging (DMI), a novel MRI technique, showed no brain volume loss or any other lesions that might explain the symptoms of long Covid.
However, Covid infection induced a specific pattern of microstructural changes in various brain regions, and this pattern differed between those who had long Covid and those who did not.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study comparing patients with long Covid to both a group without history of Covid-19 and a group that went through a Covid-19 infection but is subjectively unimpaired,” said Alexander Rau, from the Departments of Neuroradiology and Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at University Hospital Freiburg in Freiburg, Germany.
“This study allows for an in vivo insight on the impact of Covid-19 on the brain.
“Here, we noted gray matter alterations in both patients with long-Covid and those unimpaired after a Covid-19 infection. Interestingly, we not only noted widespread microstructural alterations in patients with long Covid, but also in those unimpaired after having contracted Covid-19,” Rau said.
The findings also revealed a correlation between microstructural changes and symptom-specific brain networks associated with impaired cognition, sense of smell and fatigue.