Cognitive Deficits in people who have recovered from COVID-19

By Martyn Blairs

Cognitive deficits are defined by impairment of learning and memory processes. There are growing concerns about the possible cognitive consequences of COVID-19. There is evidence to suggest that those who have recovered from COVID-19, and no longer report symptoms, demonstrate significant cognitive deficits compared with a healthy comparison group. The domains affected by the observed cognitive deficits were reasoning, problem solving, spatial planning, working-memory span and emotional processing. The paper indicates there is an association of cognitive underperformance with an increase in symptom severity and medical assistance, even when controlling for patients’ cognitive performance prior to infection. These results are suggestive of a long-term impact on brain health by COVID-19 infection, which could manifest into a public health concern.

Read the full paper: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00324-2/fulltext