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Review
. 2022 Mar;45(1):29-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2021.11.001. Epub 2021 Nov 11.

Emerging Knowledge of the Neurobiology of COVID-19

Matthew Butler  1 , Benjamin Cross  2 , Danish Hafeez  3 , Mao Fong Lim  4 , Hamilton Morrin  5 , Emma Rachel Rengasamy  6 , Tom Pollak  7 , Timothy R Nicholson  7
Affiliations
Review

Emerging Knowledge of the Neurobiology of COVID-19

Matthew Butler et al. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Many patients with COVID-19 will experience acute or longer-term neuropsychiatric complications. The neurobiological mechanisms behind these are beginning to emerge; however, the neurotropic hypothesis is not strongly supported by clinical data. The inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 is likely to be responsible for delirium and other common acute neuropsychiatric manifestations. Vascular abnormalities such as endotheliopathies contribute to stroke and cerebral microbleeds, with their attendant neuropsychiatric sequelae. Longer-term neuropsychiatric syndromes fall into 2 broad categories: neuropsychiatric deficits occurring after severe (hospitalized) COVID-19 and "long COVID," which occurs in many patients with a milder acute COVID-19 illness.

Keywords: COVID-19; Delirium; Long COVID; Neurobiology; Neuropsychiatry; SARS-CoV-2.

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References

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