COVID-19 patients frequently suffer neurological problems including stroke, brain inflammation, or abnormal function of peripheral nerves. Other patients have more subtle problems such as “brain fog”, problems with thinking and memory, or excessive fatigue. We do not understand how frequently this occurs, which patients are more at risk of such symptoms, and what mechanisms are responsible.
We plan to use a range of approaches to address these questions, including: careful clinical characterization, testing of mental function and mental health, measurement of markers of brain injury in blood samples, measuring inflammation and evaluating the body’s immune response against brain tissue, undertaking advanced MRI imaging.
Such information will enable us to understand which mechanisms in different patients, and allow us to use rational approaches to design, select and test appropriate therapies.
