Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Cognitive impairment from severe Covid equal to 'losing 10 IQ points’

Cognitive impairment from severe Covid equal to 'losing 10 IQ points’

COGNITIVE impairment resulting from severe Covid-19 is similar to that sustained between 50 and 70 years of age, a new study has found.

According to a team of scientists from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, this cognitive impairment is equivalent to ageing 20 years or losing 10 IQ points.

The findings suggest the effects are still detectable more than six months after the acute illness and that any recovery is at best gradual.

There is growing evidence that Covid-19 can cause lasting cognitive and mental health problems, with recovered patients reporting symptoms including fatigue and ‘brain fog’, according to the study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.

In the UK, a study found that around one in seven individuals surveyed reported having symptoms that included cognitive difficulties 12 weeks after a positive Covid-19 test.

While even mild cases can lead to persistent cognitive symptoms, between a third and three-quarters of hospitalised patients report still suffering cognitive symptoms three to six months later.

To explore this link in greater detail, researchers analysed data from 46 individuals who received in-hospital care.

Covid-19 survivors were less accurate and with slower response times than the matched control population – and these deficits were still detectable when the patients were followed up six months later. The effects were strongest for those who required mechanical ventilation. By comparing the patients to 66,008 members of the general public, the researchers estimate that the magnitude of cognitive loss is similar on average to that sustained with 20 years of ageing, between 50 and 70 years of age, and that this is equivalent to losing 10 IQ points.

Survivors scored particularly poorly on tasks such as verbal analogical reasoning, a finding that supports the commonly-reported problem of difficulty finding words. They also showed slower processing speeds, which aligns with previous observations post Covid-19 of decreased brain glucose consumption within the frontoparietal network of the brain, responsible for attention, complex problem-solving and working memory, among other functions.

Professor David Menon from the division of anaesthesia at the University of Cambridge, the study’s senior author, said: “Cognitive impairment is common to a wide range of neurological disorders, including dementia, and even routine ageing, but the patterns we saw – the cognitive 'fingerprint' of Covid-19 – was distinct from all of these.”

While it is now well established that people who have recovered from severe Covid-19 illness can have a broad spectrum of symptoms of poor mental health – depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low motivation, fatigue, low mood, and disturbed sleep – the team found that acute illness severity was better at predicting the cognitive deficits.

The patients’ scores and reaction times began to improve over time, but the researchers say that any recovery in cognitive faculties was at best gradual and likely to be influenced by several factors including illness severity and its neurological or psychological impacts.

Professor Menon added: “We followed some patients up as late as 10 months after their acute infection, so we're able to see a very slow improvement. While this was not statistically significant, it is at least heading in the right direction, but it is very possible that some of these individuals will never fully recover.”

There are several factors that could cause the cognitive deficits, say the researchers. Direct viral infection is possible, but unlikely to be a major cause; instead, it is more likely that a combination of factors contributes, including inadequate oxygen or blood supply to the brain, blockage of large or small blood vessels due to clotting, and microscopic bleeds.

However, emerging evidence suggests that the most important mechanism may be damage caused by the body’s own inflammatory response and immune system.

While this study looked at hospitalised cases, the team says that even those patients not sick enough to be admitted may also have tell-tale signs of mild impairment.

More For You

Modi arrives in Saudi Arabia to strengthen strategic ties

Prime minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (22)

Modi arrives in Saudi Arabia to strengthen strategic ties

INDIA’S prime minister Narendra Modi arrived in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah on Tuesday (22) for his third visit as prime minister to the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

The trip came a day after Modi held talks with US vice-president JD Vance in India, with New Delhi looking to seal a trade deal with Washington and stave off punishing tariffs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Veterans urge nation to 'unite and remember' in VE Day letter

Samina Mahroof, a cutter at the JW Plant Flag Company works on flag orders ahead of the VE Day 80th anniversary on March 18, 2025 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Veterans urge nation to 'unite and remember' in VE Day letter

TEN surviving Second World War veterans, including three from the British Indian Army, have written an open letter urging people across the UK to come together and remember the sacrifices made during the war.

Launched on Wednesday (23) by the /Together Coalition, the letter is part of a wider campaign marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, which falls on May 5.

Keep ReadingShow less
Vinay Narwal

Lieutenant Vinay Narwal of the Indian Navy, 26, from Haryana, was among those killed in the attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam.

Photo: X/@indiannavy

Navy officer on honeymoon, grandfather vacationing with grandkids among 26 killed in Kashmir attack

LIEUTENANT Vinay Narwal of the Indian Navy had been married just six days earlier. He was on his honeymoon in Pahalgam when he was shot in the head by a terrorist while eating bhelpuri with his wife.

Manjunatha, a tourist from Karnataka, was asked if he was Hindu or Muslim before being shot dead.

Keep ReadingShow less
Who is Saifullah Kasuri, the  mastermind behind Pahalgam attack?

Saifullah Kasuri

Who is Saifullah Kasuri, the  mastermind behind Pahalgam attack?

THE tourist town of Pahalgam in India's Jammu and Kashmir witnessed one of the worst terror attacks in the region on Tuesday (22) since the abrogation of Article 370. A group of heavily armed terrorists opened fire on unsuspecting tourists at Baisaran meadow, killing 26 people and injuring many more.

The attack sent shockwaves across the country and drew condemnation from leaders both in India and abroad. Within hours, a group known as The Resistance Front (TRF), widely believed to be a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hertfordshire Police treat vandalism of Muslim graves as Islamophobic hate crime

The damage to plaques at Carpenders Park Cemetery has sparked outrage in the Muslim community

Hertfordshire Police treat vandalism of Muslim graves as Islamophobic hate crime

Grant Williams

HERTFORDSHIRE Police have said they are “confident” the desecration of Muslim graves at a cemetery in north London “was a religiously motivated act”.

The leader of the council that owns the cemetery visited the site last week to speak to grieving families following the horrific incident.

Keep ReadingShow less