Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov;9(11):1826-1831.
doi: 10.1002/acn3.51675. Epub 2022 Oct 20.

Cognitive dysfunction 1 year after COVID-19: evidence from eye tracking

Federico Carbone  1 , Laura Zamarian #  1 , Verena Rass #  1 , Stefanie Bair  1 , Marcel Ritter  2 , Ronny Beer  1 , Philipp Mahlknecht  1 , Beatrice Heim  1 , Victoria Limmert  1 , Marina Peball  1 , Philipp Ellmerer  1 , Alois Josef Schiefecker  1 , Mario Kofler  1 , Anna Lindner  1 , Bettina Pfausler  1 , Lauma Putnina  1 , Philipp Kindl  1 , Judith Löffler-Ragg  3 , Stefan Kiechl  1 , Klaus Seppi  1 , Atbin Djamshidian  1 , Raimund Helbok  1
Affiliations

Cognitive dysfunction 1 year after COVID-19: evidence from eye tracking

Federico Carbone et al. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests persistent cognitive dysfunction after COVID-19. In this cross-sectional study, frontal lobe function was assessed 12 months after the acute phase of the disease, using tailored eye tracking assessments. Individuals who recovered from COVID-19 made significantly more errors in all eye tracking tasks compared to age/sex-matched healthy controls. Furthermore, patients who were treated as inpatients performed worse compared to outpatients and controls. Our results show impaired inhibitory cortical control in individuals who recovered from COVID-19. The association between disease severity and its sequelae may contribute to a better understanding of post-COVID-19 cognitive function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

KS reports grants from FWF Austrian Science Fund, grants from Michael J. Fox Foundation, grants from International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, personal fees from Teva, personal fees from UCB, personal fees from Lundbeck, personal fees from AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals AG, personal fees from Abbvie, personal fees from Roche, personal fees from Grünenthal; all outside the submitted work. PM reports grants from TWF (Tyrolean Science Fund), grants from Medtronic, personal fees from Boston Scientific, all outside the submitted work. The other authors have nothing to disclose and declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participants are instructed to look at the fixation cross at the beginning of every task. In the pro‐saccade task they will look at the peripheral cue (dot); in the anti‐saccade task in the opposite direction; in the dual‐task (DT) participants are asked to press a computer key on the same side of the cue while they perform an anti‐saccade. For each task reaction time and error rate are recorded.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Helms J, Kremer S, Merdji H, et al. Neurologic features in severe SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:2268‐2270. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hosp JA, Dressing A, Blazhenets G, et al. Cognitive impairment and altered cerebral glucose metabolism in the subacute stage of COVID‐19. Brain. 2021;144:1263‐1276. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tavares‐Júnior JWL, de Souza ACC, Borges JWP, et al. COVID‐19 associated cognitive impairment: a systematic review. Cortex. 2022;152:77‐97. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Graham EL, Clark JR, Orban ZS, et al. Persistent neurologic symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in non‐hospitalized Covid‐19 “long haulers”. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2021;8:1073‐1085. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Evans RA, McAuley H, Harrison EM, et al. Physical, cognitive, and mental health impacts of COVID‐19 after hospitalisation (PHOSP‐COVID): a UK multicentre, prospective cohort study. Lancet Respir Med. 2021;9:1275‐1287. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types