ArticleQJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians2023
Causal associations and genetic overlap between COVID-19 and intelligence.
Article in QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Causal association of COVID-19 with brain structure changes: Findings from a non-overlapping 2-sample Mendelian randomization study.Journal of the neurological sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Integrating population-level and cell-based signatures for drug repositioning.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Causal effects of education, intelligence, and income on COVID-19: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study.Human genomics · 2025Article
- Causal effect of COVID-19 on longitudinal volumetric changes in subcortical structures: A mendelian randomization study.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Causal influences of neuropsychiatric disorders on Alzheimer's disease.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Exploring the influences of education, intelligence and income on mental disorders.General psychiatry · 2024Article
- Causal associations between COVID-19 and childhood mental disorders.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Causal influences of osteoarthritis on COVID-19: a Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveCOVID-19 might cause neuroinflammation in the brain, which could decrease neurocognitive function. We aimed to evaluate the causal associations and genetic overlap between COVID-19 and intelligence.
methodsWe performed Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess potential associations between three COVID-19 outcomes and intelligence (N = 269 867). The COVID phenotypes included severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (N = 2 501 486), hospitalized COVID-19 (N = 1 965 329) and critical COVID-19 (N = 743 167). Genome-wide risk genes were compared between the genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets on hospitalized COVID-19 and intelligence. In addition, functional pathways were constructed to explore molecular connections between COVID-19 and intelligence.
resultsThe MR analyses indicated that genetic liabilities to SARS-CoV-2 infection (odds ratio [OR]: 0.965, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.939-0.993) and critical COVID-19 (OR: 0.989, 95% CI: 0.979-0.999) confer causal effects on intelligence. There was suggestive evidence supporting the causal effect of hospitalized COVID-19 on intelligence (OR: 0.988, 95% CI: 0.972-1.003). Hospitalized COVID-19 and intelligence share 10 risk genes within 2 genomic loci, including MAPT and WNT3. Enrichment analysis showed that these genes are functionally connected within distinct subnetworks of 30 phenotypes linked to cognitive decline. The functional pathway revealed that COVID-19-driven pathological changes within the brain and multiple peripheral systems may lead to cognitive impairment.
conclusionsOur study suggests that COVID-19 may exert a detrimental effect on intelligence. The tau protein and Wnt signaling may mediate the influence of COVID-19 on intelligence.
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