Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory
Abstract A substantial proportion of patients suffer from Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS) with fatigue and impairment of memory and concentration being the most important symptoms. We here set out to perform in-depth neuropsychological assessment of PCS patients referred to the Neurologic PCS clinic compa...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85919-x |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841544765486661632 |
|---|---|
| author | Jeyanthan Charles James Hannah Schulze Nadine Siems Christian Prehn Daniel R. Quast Nadine Trampe Ralf Gold Simon Faissner |
| author_facet | Jeyanthan Charles James Hannah Schulze Nadine Siems Christian Prehn Daniel R. Quast Nadine Trampe Ralf Gold Simon Faissner |
| author_sort | Jeyanthan Charles James |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract A substantial proportion of patients suffer from Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS) with fatigue and impairment of memory and concentration being the most important symptoms. We here set out to perform in-depth neuropsychological assessment of PCS patients referred to the Neurologic PCS clinic compared to patients without sequelae after COVID-19 (non-PCS) and healthy controls (HC) to decipher the most prevalent cognitive deficits. We included n = 60 PCS patients with neurologic symptoms, n = 15 non-PCS patients and n = 15 healthy controls. Basic socioeconomic data and subjective complaints were recorded. This was followed by a detailed neuropsychological test battery, including assessments of general orientation, motor and cognitive fatigue, screening of depressive and anxiety symptoms, information processing speed, concentration, visuomotor processing speed, attention, verbal short-term and working memory, cognitive flexibility, semantic and phonematic word fluency, as well as verbal and visual memory functions. Neurologic PCS patients had more complaints with significantly higher fatigue scores as well as higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to Non-PCS and HC. Deep neuropsychological assessment showed that neurologic PCS patients performed worse in a general screening of cognitive deficits compared to HC. Neurologic PCS patients showed impaired mental flexibility as an executive subfunction, verbal short-term memory, working memory and general reactivity (prolonged reaction time). Multiple regression showed fatigue affected processing speed; depression did not. Self-reported cognitive deficits of patients with neurologic PCS including fatigue, concentration, and memory deficits, are well mirrored in impaired performance of cognitive domains of concentration and working memory. The present results should be considered to optimize treatment algorithms for therapy and rehabilitation programs of PCS patients with neurologic symptoms. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9345929c522445d896080a56f062de9a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-9345929c522445d896080a56f062de9a2025-01-12T12:19:11ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111510.1038/s41598-025-85919-xNeurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memoryJeyanthan Charles James0Hannah Schulze1Nadine Siems2Christian Prehn3Daniel R. Quast4Nadine Trampe5Ralf Gold6Simon Faissner7Department of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumDepartment of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumDepartment of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumDepartment of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumDepartment of Internal Medicine, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumDepartment of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumDepartment of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumDepartment of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University BochumAbstract A substantial proportion of patients suffer from Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS) with fatigue and impairment of memory and concentration being the most important symptoms. We here set out to perform in-depth neuropsychological assessment of PCS patients referred to the Neurologic PCS clinic compared to patients without sequelae after COVID-19 (non-PCS) and healthy controls (HC) to decipher the most prevalent cognitive deficits. We included n = 60 PCS patients with neurologic symptoms, n = 15 non-PCS patients and n = 15 healthy controls. Basic socioeconomic data and subjective complaints were recorded. This was followed by a detailed neuropsychological test battery, including assessments of general orientation, motor and cognitive fatigue, screening of depressive and anxiety symptoms, information processing speed, concentration, visuomotor processing speed, attention, verbal short-term and working memory, cognitive flexibility, semantic and phonematic word fluency, as well as verbal and visual memory functions. Neurologic PCS patients had more complaints with significantly higher fatigue scores as well as higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to Non-PCS and HC. Deep neuropsychological assessment showed that neurologic PCS patients performed worse in a general screening of cognitive deficits compared to HC. Neurologic PCS patients showed impaired mental flexibility as an executive subfunction, verbal short-term memory, working memory and general reactivity (prolonged reaction time). Multiple regression showed fatigue affected processing speed; depression did not. Self-reported cognitive deficits of patients with neurologic PCS including fatigue, concentration, and memory deficits, are well mirrored in impaired performance of cognitive domains of concentration and working memory. The present results should be considered to optimize treatment algorithms for therapy and rehabilitation programs of PCS patients with neurologic symptoms.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85919-xNeurological Post-COVID syndromePost-COVID syndromeLong-COVID syndromeSARS-CoV-2 |
| spellingShingle | Jeyanthan Charles James Hannah Schulze Nadine Siems Christian Prehn Daniel R. Quast Nadine Trampe Ralf Gold Simon Faissner Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory Scientific Reports Neurological Post-COVID syndrome Post-COVID syndrome Long-COVID syndrome SARS-CoV-2 |
| title | Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory |
| title_full | Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory |
| title_fullStr | Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory |
| title_short | Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory |
| title_sort | neurological post covid syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short term and working memory |
| topic | Neurological Post-COVID syndrome Post-COVID syndrome Long-COVID syndrome SARS-CoV-2 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85919-x |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeyanthancharlesjames neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory AT hannahschulze neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory AT nadinesiems neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory AT christianprehn neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory AT danielrquast neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory AT nadinetrampe neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory AT ralfgold neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory AT simonfaissner neurologicalpostcovidsyndromeisassociatedwithsubstantialimpairmentofverbalshorttermandworkingmemory |