If the toughest phase of the Covid 19 epidemic seems to have passed, there are still many questions about everything related to the so-called Long Covid, i.e. all the side effects that remain or occur following the disease. A research coordinated by the University of Milan – in collaboration with the Aldo Ravelli Center, the Asst Santi Paolo e Carlo and the Irccs Auxologico – in fact highlighted how mental fog, memory and concentration disorders that remain for months after having had Covid could be connected to alterations in brain metabolism, and the accumulation of molecules toxic to neurons. The study was published in the Journal of Neurology.
I study
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The research showed that out of 7 patients analyzed with a positron emission tomography (better known as Pet), 3 had a reduced functioning of temporal areas (seat of memory), del encefalic trunk (which concerns attention and balance) and of prefrontal areas (mental energy, motivation and behavior). This is related to a can accumulation of amyloid in the brain“a protein that when it accumulates in neurons determines their premature aging and degeneration and which is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease”, as explained by the Doctor Luca Tagliabuedirector of Nuclear Medicine and Radiodiagnostics of Santi Paolo e Carlo.
The role of stress
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The conclusion, therefore, indicates that memory and concentration disturbances one year after Covid may derive from functional alterations of some areas of the brain, but not only. As explained by Professor Roberta Ferrucci, professor of psychobiology at the University of Milan, “some disorders do not have a functional response to the brain, but can derive from exclusively psychological modifications similar to post-traumatic stress disorder”.