ArticleEuropean journal of neurology2025
Unraveling brain fog in post-COVID syndrome: Relationship between subjective cognitive complaints and cognitive function, fatigue, and neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Article in European journal of neurology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- A randomized comparative feasibility study of neuromodulation and cognitive training for post-COVID fatigue.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Fatigue and Cognitive Impairment in Adults With Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: Results From Concept Elicitation Interviews.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2026Article
- Neuroinflammation-associated thalamocortical functional connectivity and cognition in older adults.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Posterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke Occurring After ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222 Vaccination Without Evidence of Vaccine-Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia: A Case Report and Focused Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Episodic memory deficits and processes in post-COVID condition.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Relationship Between Cognitive Function and Balance, Fatigue, and Physical Activity Levels in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From Exhaustion to Empowerment: A Pilot Study on Motor Control-Based Exercise for Fatigue and Quality of Life in Long COVID-19 Patients.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Toward characterizing brain fog in long COVID: correlates and impact on measurement metrics.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Metacognition and cognitive dysfunction in post-COVID condition.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Transcranial stimulation as a possible therapeutic proposal in long COVID.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026Review
- A randomised, placebo-controlled, triple-blind clinical trial to investigate the efficacy ofFrontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- How do fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, activity and role functioning, and mental health inter-relate in adults with post-COVID-19 syndrome? A structural equation model analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Cognitive and physical functions among Chinese community-dwelling older adults with motoric cognitive risk syndrome: A prospective cohort study.International journal of nursing sciences · 2025Article
- Mapping EEG Metrics to Human Affective and Cognitive Models: An Interdisciplinary Scoping Review from a Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- Unraveling brain fog in post-COVID syndrome: Relationship between subjective cognitive complaints and cognitive function, fatigue, and neuropsychiatric symptoms.European journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Brain fog in Parkinson's disease: unraveling mechanisms and measuring impact.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Review
- Characterization of cognitive symptoms in post COVID-19 patients.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2024Article
- Psychological factors associated with Long COVID: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
background and purpose"Brain fog" is a frequent and disabling symptom that can occur after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, its clinical characteristics and the relationships among brain fog and objective cognitive function, fatigue, and neuropsychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety) are still unclear. In this study, we aimed to examine the characteristics of brain fog and to understand how fatigue, cognitive performance, and neuropsychiatric symptoms and the mutual relationships among these variables influence subjective cognitive complaints.
methodsA total of 170 patients with cognitive complaints in the context of post-COVID syndrome were evaluated using a comprehensive neuropsychological protocol. The FLEI scale was used to characterize subjective cognitive complaints. Correlation analysis, regression machine-learning algorithms, and mediation analysis were calculated.
resultsCognitive complaints were mainly attention and episodic memory symptoms, while executive functions (planning) issues were less often reported. The FLEI scale, a mental ability questionnaire, showed high correlations with a fatigue scale and moderate correlations with the Stroop test, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Random forest algorithms showed an R
conclusionsBrain fog associated with COVID-19 is mainly characterized by attention and episodic memory, and fatigue, which is the main mediator between objective and subjective cognition. Our findings contribute to understanding the pathophysiology of brain fog and emphasize the need to unravel the main mechanisms underlying brain fog, considering several aspects.
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