COVID-19 effects on brain-related health

Over time, more scientific data has come out showing that COVID-19 causes neurological problems. COVID-19 is the infectious disease for any person who gets the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These neurological problems change the brain, and can also change psychological health. 

The SARS-CoV-2 virus infects olfactory neurons, which are neurons used for smell. Neurons are cells which are part of the nervous system. Other nerve cells infected by the virus are taste receptors in the tongue. Yet, these infections may be a small part of the neurological problems caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A bigger cause may be hypoxia, caused by infected vascular cells. From neurological problems, psychological problems can happen. This may be the result of something like PTSD happening after infection. With technology like polymerase chain reaction, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been found infecting the brain and cerebrospinal fluid.

The neurological problems, which last a long time, make up a part of the many Long COVID symptoms.

 Causes 
Some scientists think that SARS-CoV-2 causes neurological problems in these ways that may or may not be true:

 By infecting a lot of cells, which then causes infection of the central nervous system.
 By causing a cytokine storm, which then causes inflammation in the central nervous system. This damages the central nervous system.
 By central nervous system thrombosis, caused by SARS-CoV-2 using the protein receptor ACE2.
 By infecting the brain stem, which causes hypoxia.

Some other scientists saw that SARS-CoV-2 can cause changes in the microciruclation in the brain, or changes in blood flow in smaller blood vessels. Also, endothelial cells may die. These changes can be bad for the blood–brain barrier. 

Still other scientists have found that SARS-CoV-2 makes tunneling nanotubes. The tunnels start from nose cells and then go to the brain.

 Results 
After some people got a SARS-CoV-2 infection, some scientists did brain scans and cognitive tests on those people. The people were in the UK Biobank. From brain scans, the scientists saw that the brain is smaller after infection. From the cognitive tests, the scientists saw that the people were less good at cognitive tests after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

 Related pages 
 Long COVID

 References 

Category:Diseases caused by viruses

Category:Coronaviruses