2019年冠状病毒病(COVID-19)与大脑功能有关,结构,以及感染后几个月持续的认知变化。大多数与COVID-19相关的神经系统结局研究集中在严重感染和老龄化人群上。这里,我们在一项病例对照研究中调查了COVID-19相关结局的潜在神经活动,该研究是在伦巴第的一项纵向研究中招募的轻度感染青年,意大利,COVID-19的全球热点。所有参与者(13例,27个控件,平均年龄24岁)完成静息状态功能(fMRI),结构MRI,基线(COVID前)和随访(COVID后)时的认知评估(CANTAB空间工作记忆)。使用图论特征向量中心性(EC)和数据驱动的统计方法,我们检查了ECdelta的差异(即,COVID-19前后EC值的差异)和体积增量(即,COVID-19病例和对照组之间的COVID前后皮质和皮质下区域皮质体积的差异)。我们发现COVID-19和健康参与者之间的ECδ在五个大脑区域显著;右体内皮质,右舌回,左海马,左杏仁核,左额眶皮质.左侧海马显示组间体积增量显著降低(p=0.041)。与COVID-19状态相关的右杏仁核ECδ减少介导了COVID-19与空间工作记忆破坏之间的关联。我们的结果显示了持久的结构,与嗅觉和认知相关的关键大脑区域的功能和认知大脑变化。这些结果可以指导治疗努力评估寿命,COVID-19后观察到的大脑和认知变化的可逆性和影响。
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with brain functional, structural, and cognitive changes that persist months after infection. Most studies of the neurologic outcomes related to COVID-19 focus on severe infection and aging populations. Here, we investigated the neural activities underlying COVID-19 related outcomes in a
case-control study of mildly infected youth enrolled in a longitudinal study in Lombardy, Italy, a global hotspot of COVID-19. All participants (13 cases, 27 controls, mean age 24 years) completed resting state functional (fMRI), structural MRI, cognitive assessments (CANTAB spatial working memory) at baseline (pre-COVID) and follow-up (post-COVID). Using graph theory eigenvector centrality (EC) and data-driven statistical methods, we examined differences in ECdelta (i.e., the difference in EC values pre- and post-COVID-19) and volumetricdelta (i.e., the difference in cortical volume of cortical and subcortical areas pre- and post-COVID) between COVID-19 cases and controls. We found that ECdeltasignificantly between COVID-19 and healthy participants in five brain regions; right intracalcarine cortex, right lingual gyrus, left hippocampus, left amygdala, left frontal orbital cortex. The left hippocampus showed a significant decrease in volumetricdelta between groups (p=0.041). The reduced ECdelta in the right amygdala associated with COVID-19 status mediated the association between COVID-19 and disrupted spatial working memory. Our results show persistent structural, functional and cognitive brain changes in key brain areas associated with olfaction and cognition. These results may guide treatment efforts to assess the longevity, reversibility and impact of the observed brain and cognitive changes following COVID-19.