Small study finds brain alterations after COVID Omicron infection

Researchers in China report thinning of the gray matter and other changes in certain parts of the brain in 61 men after COVID-19 Omicron infection. For the study, published late last week in JAMA Network Open, the researchers evaluated 61 men before and after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in January 2023. The men had been part of a larger cohort who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychiatric screenings before infection in August and September 2022. Average age was 43 years. The researchers collected MRI and neuropsychiatric data after COVID-19 infection and tracked clinical symptoms for 3 months. The average interval from infection and MRI scans was 22 days. Twenty-nine participants received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 17 received three, and 15 didn’t report their vaccination status. Links to anxiety, word fluency After infection, Beck Anxiety Inventory scores were significantly higher (median, 4.50 to 4.00), while depressive distress scores...