Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39901839›Full record

ArticlePsychiatry and clinical neurosciences2025

Two-year impact of COVID-19: Longitudinal MRI brain changes and neuropsychiatric trajectories.

Ravi Dadsena, Julia Walders, Ana S Costa, Sophie Wetz, Sandro Romanzetti, Stella Andrea Lischewski, Christina Krockauer, Josephine Heine, Lars Schlenker, Pia Klabunn and 8 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing 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

13 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Review
  3. Observational
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  5. 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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  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
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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

18 authors.

Ravi Dadsena *Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Julia Walders *Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7165-0782
Ana S CostaDepartment of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1999-6616
Sophie WetzDepartment of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Sandro RomanzettiDepartment of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Stella Andrea LischewskiDepartment of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Christina KrockauerDepartment of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Josephine HeineCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Berlin, Germany.
Lars SchlenkerCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Berlin, Germany.
Pia KlabunnCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Berlin, Germany.
Katia SchwichtenbergCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Berlin, Germany.
Tim J HartungCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Berlin, Germany.
Christiana FrankeCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Berlin, Germany.
Carolin BalloffDepartment of Neurology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Ferdinand BinkofskiDepartment of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Jörg B SchulzDepartment of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Carsten Finke *Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Berlin, Germany.
Kathrin Reetz *Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.

Funding

Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging at Charité BerlinBrain Imaging Facility of the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research AachenElse Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung 2022_EKEA.58RWTH Aachen University
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimUp to 10% of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals suffer from post-COVID-19 condition, marked by fatigue and cognitive dysfunction as major symptoms. Longitudinal studies on neuropsychological and clinical trajectories and related brain changes are scarce. Here, we aimed to examine their evolution up to 2 years post-infection.

methodsIn a multi-center, longitudinal study of 79 post-COVID patients (mean age 46, 48 female) with persistent symptoms and 21 age- and sex-matched never-infected, healthy controls (mean age 42, eight female), we analyzed neuropsychological performance, self-reported outcomes and associated neuroimaging alterations of resting-state functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging data 23 months post-infection.

resultsIn post-COVID patients 23 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection we observed (1) that fatigue severity had reduced but still remained present in most patients, (2) widespread brain changes involving the brainstem, the pre- and postcentral gyrus and the limbic olfactory network, (3) a weakening of self-reported fatigue and its cerebral associations. Notably, findings of brain aberrations were more pronounced in hospitalized patients.

conclusionOur findings indicate that complex brain adaptations take place up to 2 years following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some regions manifest enduring abnormalities while others undergo restitution. The attenuation of radio-clinical associations suggests a compensatory function for these regions, pointing to non-brain intrinsic factors to sustain persistent fatigue.

Indexed as

BrainCognitive DysfunctionCOVID-19FatigueAdultFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeuropsychological Testsfatiguelongitudinal studyneuroimagingpost‐COVID‐19 condition

Identifiers

PMID39901839
PMCPMC11962352

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.