A research group from Ireland has discovered that post-corona symptoms, including brain fog, may be caused by a disturbance in the functioning of the blood-brain barrier. Brain fog is a common prolonged symptom reported by individuals after a corona infection and includes feelings of slowed brain functions, unusual fatigue, concentration difficulties, and memory problems.
Researchers from Trinity College in Ireland published a report in Nature Neuroscience explaining that the symptoms could be due to issues with the blood-brain barrier, which normally prevents harmful substances from entering the brain tissue from the blood. The research team collected blood samples from 76 hospital patients who had contracted corona during the first wave in the spring of 2020. They also took samples from 25 controls who had not been infected before the pandemic. Of the patients, 14 later experienced brain fog and showed significantly increased levels of a marker in their blood that normally wouldn’t pass through the blood-brain barrier. This suggests that proteins were able to enter the brain from the blood in these patients with brain fog. Brain scans also revealed changes indicating blood-brain barrier leakage in those with brain fog, which was not present in those without the symptom.
Professor Matthew Campbell from Trinity College stated in The Guardian that adjusting the functioning of the blood-brain barrier could potentially help treat neurological problems associated with post-corona symptoms like brain fog. However, Professor Claire Steves from King’s College warned against rushing to conclusions as
