COVID-19 survivors report significantly higher symptoms of PTSD, and these symptoms are associated with changes in brain connectivity, according to a new study.
Is the COVID-19 virus NOT a respiratory disease?
Although COVID-19 is primarily considered a respiratory disease. Experts acknowledge that it also affects the nervous system, sometimes causing severe neurological symptoms.
Some survivors of COVID-19 also experience long-term mental health problems. Which include anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
ABOUT THE STUDY:
In the study published in Neurobiology of Stress, the researchers set out to determine whether survivors experience large-scale functional disruption of brain networks. As well as collections of discrete and extended regions of the brain that work together to perform complex cognitive tasks.
The researchers collected data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and self-reported post-traumatic stress symptoms. Out of 50 COVID-19 survivors, along with matched control subjects.
The COVID-19 survivors were discharged between February and March 2020 from hospitals in Wuhan, China, and were examined approximately six months after their discharge.
RESULTS:
The findings show that COVID-19 survivors self-reported significantly more PTSD symptoms than controls.
The study also reveals that COVID-19 survivors exhibited abnormal patterns of brain connectivity over time. Which were significantly associated with higher post-traumatic stress symptoms.
“Until recently, the analysis approaches used for functional MRI data assumed that the functional connectivity of the brain was static. But now we have approaches that can capture dynamic functional brain connectivity, showing how brain patterns change over time in fundamental and recurring ways, “says Vince Calhoun, professor of psychology at Georgia State University and director of the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS).
COVID-19 survivors showed a higher occurrence
The researchers identified three distinct and recurring states of functional connectivity in the subjects’ brains. The survivors showed a greater occurrence of a particular state marked by patterns of connections between brain networks. Which involve sensorimotor functions and visual networks.
“When we looked within the group of COVID-19 survivors, we also found a significant relationship between the severity of their PTSD symptoms and how often their brain patterns are in that state,” says Calhoun. “If they spend more time in that state, they tend to have higher values on those symptom scales.”
“Our findings provide evidence that COVID could affect transient brain dynamics rather than its ongoing activity,” says Zening Fu, study first author and TReNDS research scientist.
There are still many unanswered questions
The results highlight the importance of evaluating transient functional network changes that vary over time among COVID-19 survivors. Although Calhoun points out that there are still many unanswered questions, including why this brain state is related to PTSD.
The research team is also interested in replicating the study using other data and looking at changes within subjects before and after contracting COVID-19.
Source: Georgia State University
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