Structural and functional brain markers of cognitive impairment in healthcare workers following mild SARS-CoV-2 infection during the original stream
Authors: González-Rosa Javier J , Gómez-Molinero María P , Lozano-Soto Elena , Fernández-Rosa Silvia P , Campos-Silvo Marina , García-Rodríguez María Paula , Cano-Cano Fátima , Sanmartino Florencia , Rashid-López Raúl , Macías-García Paloma , Gómez-Ramírez Jaime D , Espinosa-Rosso Raúl , Paz-Espósito José , Gómez-Molinero Rocío , Forero Lucía , Cruz-Gómez Álvaro J 
Published: September 2024

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection often involves the nervous system, leading to cognitive dysfunctions, fatigue and many other neurological signs that are becoming increasingly recognized. Despite mild forms of the disease accounting for most cases worldwide, research on the pathophysiology driving mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has received little attention. In this respect, recent evidence has pointed out that around 30–40% of non-critical, mild-to-moderate severity COVID-19 survivors may display cognitive disturbances several months post-illness. Hence, the impact of COVID-19 on the brain structure and function, through potential neuropathological mechanisms underpinning cognitive alterations in post-mild COVID-19 infections, remains largely unexplored. This retrospective multicentre observational cohort study, entirely based on a healthcare worker sample (n = 65; 55% females, aged 21–61), investigated the cognitive status and the structural and functional brain integrity among non-hospitalized individuals who developed mild COVID-19 symptoms during the occurrence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants Alpha to Delta, compared with healthy controls tested before the pandemic onset. All evaluations were performed at an average of 9-month follow-up post-infection period. Participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment and structural and functional MRI exams. Radiological inspection sought to detect the presence of white matter hyperintensities on axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images. Global and regional grey matter integrity assessment, analysing changes in grey matter volumes and cortical thinning, and functional connectivity alterations of resting-state brain networks were also conducted. Regression analyses tested the relationships between the presence of specific cognitive impairments and potential structural and functional brain findings. Our results revealed that clinical, cognitive screening and neuropsychological examinations were average between both groups, except for specific impairments related to executive functions in the mild COVID-19. Compared to healthy controls, mild COVID-19 subjects exhibited increased juxtacortical white matter hyperintensities, thalamic and occipital volume loss and diminished resting-state functional connectivity involving the left precuneus and cuneus in default-mode network and affecting the right angular gyrus and left precuneus in the dorsal attentional network. Reduced thalamic volume was the only variable selected in the final model explaining the observed executive function impairment in mild COVID-19. The presence of cognitive, structural and functional brain abnormalities over time suggests that the action of widespread neurovascular and inflammatory phenomena on the nervous system might also occur in mild forms following COVID-19 infection rather than permanent brain damage linked to the direct or indirect action of the virus. Our findings emphasize the need to pay attention to the long-term brain-related consequences of mild COVID-19 infections during the original stream.