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The article I chose was written about a study which looked into the long-term cognitive effects individuals experience after being infected with COVID-19. The study used mice and "explored how mild respiratory infections of SARS-CoV-2 could lead to neuroinflammation and subsequent brain damage through multilineage neural cell dysregulation". Investigators infected the study mice with COVID and observed the effect on different parts of the body, specifically the brain. What they found was "no SARS-CoV-2 in the brain but found signs of neuroinflammation in elevated levels of chemokines in cerebrospinal fluid and serum, each with a distinct time course". They then looked into whether this finding of neuroinflammation & its related brain fog could lead to the development of a cure. "Findings from the study by Fernández-Castañeda and colleagues support the testing of microglial modulators to treat Covid-related brain fog" as well as suggest that looking into upstream regulators of microglial activation could be beneficial. In addition, the study deemed CCL11 as a biomarker which, if verified by another study, can be used to identify patients with covid-related cognitive impairment by looking at levels in plasma or cerebrospinal fluid.

I chose this study because I have heard many people within my life talk about feeling as though their head is foggy for weeks after having COVID-19 and figured it is interesting to look into long-term effects on the brain after being infected. I had always believed that there was a correlation between the two, and this study & its findings help to prove it.

Any individuals who had been previously infected with COVID-19 as well as anybody at risk of developing it (aka anyone living in a country impacted by COVID) would be interested in this study & its findings. Knowing the fact that the infection can cause long-term neurological issues is important as people may take extra preventative measures.

I believe the findings of this study, as many previously infected individuals have long-term effects and feel that they haven't fully recovered. It makes sense that there is a deeper impact, involving the brain & its functioning ability.

Based on the results, I would be interested to hear if the newer variants have as much of a long-term neurological affect as the first variant that had been researched. I would be willing to bet that the more serious variants have similar effects, whereas the less severe variants may not.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcibr2210069?query=featured_coronavirus