Long COVID neuropsychological deficits after severe, moderate or mild infection

Voruz, P.; Allali, G.; Benzakour, L.; Nuber-Champier, A.; Thomasson, M.; Jacot, I.; Pierce, J.; Lalive, P.; Lovblad, K.-O.; Brallaird, O.; Coen, M.; Serratrice, J.; Pugin, J.; Ptak, R.; Guessous, I.; Landis, B.; Assal, F.; Peron, J. A.

Background: There is growing awareness that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can include long-term neuropsychological deficits, even in its mild or moderate respiratory forms. Methods: Standardized neuropsychological, psychiatric, neurological and olfactory tests were administered to 45 patients (categorized according to the severity of their respiratory symptoms during the acute phase) 236.51 (SD: 22.54) days post-discharge following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: Deficits were found in all the domains of cognition and the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms was also high in the three groups. The severe performed more poorly on long-term episodic memory and exhibited greater anosognosia. The moderate had poorer emotion recognition, which was positively correlated with persistent olfactory dysfunction. The mild were more stressed, anxious and depressed. Conclusion: The data support the hypothesis that the virus targets the central nervous system (and notably the limbic system), and support the notion of different neuropsychological phenotypes.