Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35181440›Full record

ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2022

The pandemic brain: Neuroinflammation in non-infected individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ludovica Brusaferri, Zeynab Alshelh, Daniel Martins, Minhae Kim, Akila Weerasekera, Hope Housman, Erin J Morrissey, Paulina C Knight, Kelly A Castro-Blanco, Daniel S Albrecht and 13 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Heart-brain axis: Pushing the boundaries of cardiovascular molecular imaging.Journal of nuclear cardiology : official publication of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology · 2024
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Observational
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Ludovica BrusaferriAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Zeynab AlshelhAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Daniel MartinsDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF London, UK; NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
Minhae KimAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Akila WeerasekeraAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Hope HousmanAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Erin J MorrisseyAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Paulina C KnightAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Kelly A Castro-BlancoAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Daniel S AlbrechtAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Chieh-En TsengAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Nicole R ZürcherAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Eva-Maria RataiAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Oluwaseun AkejuDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care & Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Meena M MakaryAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Systems and Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, 12613 Giza, Egypt.
Ciprian CatanaAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Nathaniel D MercaldoAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Nouchine HadjikhaniAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mattia VeroneseDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF London, UK; NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK; Department of Information Engineering, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Federico TurkheimerDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF London, UK; NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
Bruce R RosenAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Jacob M HookerAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Marco L LoggiaAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care & Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: marco.loggia@mgh.harvard.edu.

Funding

Imaging neuroglial mechanisms of neuropathic pain-opioid interaction in HIVR01DA047088 · NIDA · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI LOGGIA, MARCO LUCIANO, RATAI, EVA-MARIA · 2018 to 2022
$4.3M
In-vivo imaging of spinal and brain glial activation in low back pain patientsR01NS095937 · NINDS · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI LOGGIA, MARCO LUCIANO · 2016 to 2020
$3.5M
The Role of Brain Glial Activation in knee OstoarthritisR01NS094306 · NINDS · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI LOGGIA, MARCO LUCIANO · 2016 to 2020
$3.5M
Carbon-11 Automation Equipment for Human PET Radiotracer ProductionS10OD023517 · OD · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI HOOKER, JACOB M. · 2018 to 2018
$502k
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA047088NIH HHS S10 OD023517NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS094306NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS095937
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While COVID-19 research has seen an explosion in the literature, the impact of pandemic-related societal and lifestyle disruptions on brain health among the uninfected remains underexplored. However, a global increase in the prevalence of fatigue, brain fog, depression and other "sickness behavior"-like symptoms implicates a possible dysregulation in neuroimmune mechanisms even among those never infected by the virus. We compared fifty-seven 'Pre-Pandemic' and fifteen 'Pandemic' datasets from individuals originally enrolled as control subjects for various completed, or ongoing, research studies available in our records, with a confirmed negative test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We used a combination of multimodal molecular brain imaging (simultaneous positron emission tomography / magnetic resonance spectroscopy), behavioral measurements, imaging transcriptomics and serum testing to uncover links between pandemic-related stressors and neuroinflammation. Healthy individuals examined after the enforcement of 2020 lockdown/stay-at-home measures demonstrated elevated brain levels of two independent neuroinflammatory markers (the 18 kDa translocator protein, TSPO, and myoinositol) compared to pre-lockdown subjects. The serum levels of two inflammatory markers (interleukin-16 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) were also elevated, although these effects did not reach statistical significance after correcting for multiple comparisons. Subjects endorsing higher symptom burden showed higher TSPO signal in the hippocampus (mood alteration, mental fatigue), intraparietal sulcus and precuneus (physical fatigue), compared to those reporting little/no symptoms. Post-lockdown TSPO signal changes were spatially aligned with the constitutive expression of several genes involved in immune/neuroimmune functions. This work implicates neuroimmune activation as a possible mechanism underlying the non-virally-mediated symptoms experienced by many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies will be needed to corroborate and further interpret these preliminary findings.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsBiomarkersBrainCommunicable Disease ControlHumansNeuroinflammatory DiseasesReceptors, GABASARS-CoV-2BiomarkersReceptors, GABATSPO protein, humanMental healthMRSNeuroimagingPandemicPETStress

Identifiers

PMID35181440
PMCPMC8847082

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.