SARS-CoV-2 is associated with changes in brain structure in UK Biobank

🤖 Plain-English Summary

However, it remains unknown whether the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection can be detected in milder cases, and whether this can reveal possible mechanisms contributing to brain pathology. These mainly limbic brain imaging results may be the in vivo hallmarks of a degenerative spread of the disease through olfactory pathways, of neuroinflammatory events, or of the loss of sensory input due to anosmia.

🔑 Key Findings

• Here we investigated brain changes in 785 participants of UK Biobank (aged 51-81 years) who were imaged twice using magnetic resonance imaging, including 401 cases who tested positive for infection with SARS-CoV-2 between their two scans-with 141 days on average separating their diagnosis and the second scan-as well as 384 controls.
• The availability of pre-infection imaging data reduces the likelihood of pre-existing risk factors being misinterpreted as disease effects.
• We identified significant longitudinal effects when comparing the two groups, including (1) a greater reduction in grey matter thickness and tissue contrast in the orbitofrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus; (2) greater changes in markers of tissue damage in regions that are functionally connected to the primary olfactory cortex; and (3) a greater reduction in global brain size in the SARS-CoV-2 cases.

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