Here’s what we know about COVID-19’s impact on the brain

When COVID-19 first emerged, many researchers were focused on its impact on the lungs. But others, including Avindra Nath, Clinical Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, suspected COVID could also have a profound impact on the brain. Brain autopsy data from those who have died of COVID-19 have confirmed these early suspicions, revealing damaged blood vessels and inflammatory cells. Less is known about the direct impact on the brains of people with persisting symptoms weeks after an initial infection, a condition known as Long COVID. What at first seemed like a laundry list of neurological symptoms has now been focused into major categories, says Serena Spudich, a neurologist at Yale University. Watch to learn how researchers and doctors have been teasing apart how COVID impacts the brain, and testing treatments to alleviate symptoms.