According to a research report released on March 7 by a research team from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, after humans are infected with the new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19), areas in the brain related to smell and mental ability may shrink and shrink. damaged condition.
The research team studied 785 people between the ages of 51 and 81 who had undergone brain scans before and during the COVID-19 outbreak. More than half of them had been infected with the new coronavirus before the second scan.
After analyzing the brain scans of these people, the team found that the subjects who had been infected with the new coronavirus had greater overall brain atrophy and greater gray matter atrophy, especially in areas related to smell.
Compared with people who had not been infected with the new coronavirus, people who had been infected with the new coronavirus lost 1.8% more of the parahippocampal gyrus (Parahippocampal gyrus), a key area of the brain involved in the sense of smell.
People who had been infected with the new coronavirus also lost 0.8% more area of the cerebellum.
Disturbed signal processing in these brain regions can lead to symptoms including loss of smell.
Covid-19 outbreak in the United Kingdom: The picture shows medical staff in England receiving training at the Covid-19 Vaccination Training Centre on January 24, 2022.
(AP)
Research shows that people who have been infected with the new coronavirus generally score lower on tests of mental skills than people who have not been infected with the new coronavirus.
Some parts of the cerebellum are associated with mental abilities, and subjects who had been infected had lower scores on tests of mental skills or were associated with greater loss of cerebellar tissue.
According to the research report, brain atrophy and damage to brain tissue were more pronounced in older people and those with severe COVID-19 disease that required hospitalization, but also in people with milder and asymptomatic conditions.
The team has published the research in the British scientific journal Nature.
New Coronary Pneumonia | US CDC Raises Hong Kong Travel Alert to the Highest Level New Coronary Pneumonia | The cumulative global death toll exceeds 6 million Omicron subvariant BA.2 cases are more threatened?
New data reveals severe and reinfection rate of new coronary pneumonia | Japanese expert: Omicron fatality rate is at least 40% higher than influenza
