Abstract #0733

Abnormal Brain Activation in Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19

Linda Chang^1,2,3, Meghann C. Ryan⁴, Huajun Liang¹, Xin Zhang¹, Eric Cunningham¹, Eleanor Wilson⁵, Andrea Levine⁶, Shyamasundaran Kottilil⁵, and Thomas M. Ernst^1,2

¹Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ³Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁴Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁵Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁶Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Synopsis

Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 is highly prevalent after the acute infection. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are particularly common; however, the pathophysiology of how the brain is affected remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether convalescent COVID-19 participants have abnormal brain activation that is related to quantitative neurobehavioral measures. 21 COVID-19 participants and 20 healthy controls were evaluated with the NIH-Toolbox® and blood-oxygenation level dependent-functional MRI (BOLD-fMRI), using the N-back tasks. Despite similar performance on the NIH-Toolbox-cognitive battery, COVID-19 participants had greater brain activation than controls in the precuneus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which also predicted poorer dexterity, endurance, and locomotion.

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