Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39333726›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

Altered functional brain connectivity, efficiency, and information flow associated with brain fog after mild to moderate COVID-19 infection.

Shelli R Kesler, Oscar Y Franco-Rocha, Alexa De La Torre Schutz, Kimberly A Lewis, Rija M Aziz, Ashley M Henneghan, Esther Melamed, W Michael Brode

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Resting-state functional connectivity and cognitive impairment after COVID-19 infection: Evidence from a large-scale fMRI study.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026
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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

8 authors.

Shelli R KeslerDepartment of Adult Health, School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. srkesler@austin.utexas.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-4745-8014
Oscar Y Franco-RochaDepartment of Adult Health, School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Alexa De La Torre SchutzDepartment of Adult Health, School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Kimberly A LewisDepartment of Adult Health, School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Rija M AzizDepartment of Neurology, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Ashley M HenneghanDepartment of Adult Health, School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Esther MelamedDepartment of Neurology, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
W Michael BrodeDepartment of Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

Funding

Alcohol's Impact on the Gut-Brain Axis in a Mouse Model of Multiple SclerosisK08AA027837 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · PI MELAMED, ESTHER · 2020 to 2024
$971k
NIAAA NIH HHS K08 AA027837
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

COVID-19 is associated with increased risk for cognitive decline but very little is known regarding the neural mechanisms of this risk. We enrolled 49 adults (55% female, mean age = 30.7 ± 8.7), 25 with and 24 without a history of COVID-19 infection. We administered standardized tests of cognitive function and acquired brain connectivity data using MRI. The COVID-19 group demonstrated significantly lower cognitive function (W = 475, p < 0.001, effect size r = 0.58) and lower functional connectivity in multiple brain regions (mean t = 3.47 ±0.36, p = 0.03, corrected, effect size d = 0.92 to 1.5). Hypo-connectivity of these regions was inversely correlated with subjective cognitive function and directly correlated with fatigue (p < 0.05, corrected). These regions demonstrated significantly reduced local efficiency (p < 0.026, corrected) and altered effective connectivity (p < 0.001, corrected). COVID-19 may have a widespread effect on the functional connectome characterized by lower functional connectivity and altered patterns of information processing efficiency and effective information flow. This may serve as an adaptation to the pathology of SARS-CoV-2 wherein the brain can continue functioning at near expected objective levels, but patients experience lowered efficiency as brain fog.

Indexed as

BrainConnectomeCOVID-19Magnetic Resonance ImagingAdultCognitionCognitive DysfunctionFemaleHumansMaleSARS-CoV-2Young AdultBrain networkCognitionConnectomeCOVID-19Executive function

Identifiers

PMID39333726
PMCPMC11437042

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.