ArticleScientific reports2022
Global slowness and increased intra-individual variability are key features of attentional deficits and cognitive fluctuations in post COVID-19 patients.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cognitive domains affected post-COVID-19; a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Modulating subjective and objective cognitive state fatigue in long COVID with repetitive anodal tDCS: results from a double-blinded randomized controlled trial.BMC neuroscience · 2026Trial
- Investigation of BOLD signal intensities in long COVID patients using 7T functional MRI.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Psychopathological, neuropsychological and sociodemographic description of the population using a post-COVID outpatient clinic: results from the 2Long4COVID BLOOD study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Validity of the test for attentional performance in neurological post-COVID condition.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Stroop task and practice effects demonstrate cognitive dysfunction in long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Neuropsychological functioning of pediatric patients with long COVID.The Clinical neuropsychologist · 2024Article
- Deep into Cognition: The Neuropsychological Identikit of Younger and Older Individuals after COVID-19 Infection.Biology · 2024Article
- "Brain Fog" After COVID-19 Infection: How the Field of Neuropsychology Can Help Clear the Air.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Article
- Lowered Delta Activity in Post-COVID-19 Patients with Fatigue and Cognitive Impairment.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Patients with Early Gastrointestinal Symptoms Show Persistent Deficits in Specific Attention Subdomains.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Looking deeper: does a connection exist between fatigue and attentional deficits in Parkinson's disease? A conceptual framework.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- ME/CFS and Long COVID share similar symptoms and biological abnormalities: road map to the literature.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- Fatigue and Cognitive Dysfunction Are Associated with Occupational Status in Post-COVID Syndrome.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Fatigue, attentional deficits and cognitive fluctuations are the most characterizing symptoms of neurological involvement in Post COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). As the intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive performances has been recognized as a hallmark of brain-related disorders associated with cognitive deficits, it could be an interesting measure to elucidate the mechanisms subtending both the attentive impairment and the cognitive fluctuations in these patients. By referring to IIV analysis of Reaction Times (RTs), the present study aims to define the attentive impairment and its relation to fluctuations and fatigue, in patients suffering from Post COVID-19 neurological symptoms. 74 patients were enrolled. They underwent an extensive clinical and neuropsychological assessments, as well as computerized Sustained Attention and Stroop tasks. For studying IIV, RTs distributions of performances in computerized tasks were fitted with ex-Gaussian distribution, for obtaining the τ values. Finally, the Resting Motor Threshold (RMT) was also collected to estimate cortical excitability. 29 healthy volunteers served as controls. Patients showed poorer scores in Montreal Cognitive Assessment and higher RMT, in comparison with controls. In Sustained Attention Task, Mean, µ, σ and τ values were significantly higher in PCS patients (p value = < 0.0001; 0.001; 0.018 and < 0.0001, respectively). Repeated measures ANOVA comparing the RTs mean in Stroop task within-subject and between-subjects revealed significant condition and group effect (p < 0.0001 both) and significant interaction (p = 0.005), indicating worst performances in patients. The mean of the derived interference value was significantly higher in PCS patients than in controls (p = 0.036). Patients suffering from PCS show deficits in attention, both in the sustained and executive components. Both high RTs means and high IIV subtend these deficits and could explain the often-complained cognitive fluctuations in this population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.