Frontiers in Neurology (Sep 2024)

Multimodal neuroimaging in Long-COVID and its correlates with cognition 1.8 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study of the Aliança ProHEpiC-19 Cognitiu

  • Rosalia Dacosta-Aguayo,
  • Rosalia Dacosta-Aguayo,
  • Pere Torán-Monserrat,
  • Pere Torán-Monserrat,
  • Pere Torán-Monserrat,
  • Pere Torán-Monserrat,
  • Meritxell Carmona-Cervelló,
  • Brenda Biaani León-Gómez,
  • Maria Mataró,
  • Maria Mataró,
  • Maria Mataró,
  • Josep Puig,
  • Josep Puig,
  • Josep Puig,
  • Gemma Monté-Rubio,
  • Victor M. López-Lifante,
  • Victor M. López-Lifante,
  • Victor M. López-Lifante,
  • Victor M. López-Lifante,
  • Josep Maria Manresa-Domínguez,
  • Valeria Zamora-Putin,
  • Valeria Zamora-Putin,
  • Pilar Montero-Alia,
  • Pilar Montero-Alia,
  • Carla Chacón,
  • Carla Chacón,
  • Jofre Bielsa-Pascual,
  • Eduard Moreno-Gabriel,
  • Eduard Moreno-Gabriel,
  • Eduard Moreno-Gabriel,
  • Rosa García-Sierra,
  • Rosa García-Sierra,
  • Rosa García-Sierra,
  • M. Carmen Rodríguez-Pérez,
  • Anna Costa-Garrido,
  • Julia G. Prado,
  • Julia G. Prado,
  • Julia G. Prado,
  • Eva Martínez-Cáceres,
  • Eva Martínez-Cáceres,
  • Eva Martínez-Cáceres,
  • Lourdes Mateu,
  • Lourdes Mateu,
  • Lourdes Mateu,
  • Lourdes Mateu,
  • Marta Massanella,
  • Marta Massanella,
  • Marta Massanella,
  • Marta Massanella,
  • Concepción Violán,
  • Concepción Violán,
  • Concepción Violán,
  • Concepción Violán,
  • Concepción Violán,
  • Noemí Lamonja-Vicente,
  • Noemí Lamonja-Vicente

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2024.1426881
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15

Abstract

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IntroductionThere is a growing interest in the effect of Long-COVID (LC) on cognition, and neuroimaging allows us to gain insight into the structural and functional changes underlying cognitive impairment in LC. We used multimodal neuroimaging data in combination with neuropsychological evaluations to study cognitive complaints in a cohort of LC patients with mild to moderate severity symptoms.MethodsWe conducted a 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional MRI (fMRI) sequences on 53 LC patients 1.8 years after acute COVID-19 onset. We administered neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognitive domains and examined correlations with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and resting state.ResultsWe included 53 participants with LC (mean age, 48.23 years; 88.7% females). According to the Frascati criteria, more than half of the participants had deficits in the executive (59%) and attentional (55%) domains, while 40% had impairments in the memory domain. Only one participant (1.89%) showed problems in the visuospatial and visuoconstructive domain. We observed that increased radial diffusivity in different white matter tracts was negatively correlated with the memory domain. Our results showed that higher resting state activity in the fronto-parietal network was associated with lower memory performance. Moreover, we detected increased functional connectivity among the bilateral hippocampus, the right hippocampus and the left amygdala, and the right hippocampus and the left middle temporal gyrus. These connectivity patterns were inversely related to memory and did not survive false discovery rate (FDR) correction.DiscussionPeople with LC exhibit cognitive impairments linked to long-lasting changes in brain structure and function, which justify the cognitive alterations detected.

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