SYDNEY, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Swelling in an area of the brain associated with memory and concentration has been identified in long COVID and chronic fatigue patients by Australian researchers.
In a study published on Tuesday, researchers from Griffith University used an ultra high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to analyze how long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis -- also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) -- similarly impact brain structure.
The team identified significantly larger hippocampus volume in long COVID and CFS patients compared to healthy individuals.
The hippocampus is a small but important part of the brain that helps with learning and converting short-term memories into long-term memories as well as verbal and spatial memory.
The research found that hippocampal volume was similar among long COVID and CFS patients and that hippocampal swelling was linked to symptom severity in both groups.
Kiran Thapaliya, lead author of the new study, said that the findings show that hippocampal impairment in long COVID and CFS patients "may play a significant role in cognitive difficulties such as memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and delayed responses to questions or conversations."
He said that the larger volume could be caused by neurogenesis -- the process by which new cells are formed in the brain -- or by a virus in the brain.
The research involved 17 long COVID patients, 29 CFS patients and 15 people with neither condition. ■
