Healthy Minds for Life A Message from Lee Ryan, Professor and Head of the Psychology Department at the University of Arizona COVID and the brain
our study of brain functioning among older adults. We’re asking thousands of people across the country about their experiences with COVID and assessing the cognitive problems that may have continued over time. We’re just beginning to find answers. We’ve learned that COVID can lead to difficulties with memory, concentration, and problem solving, often referred to in the popular press as brain fog. For most people, brain fog clears between three and six months after COVID illness. For some people, however, these brain changes may be long lasting, increasing the risk for cognitive impairment or even dementia in later life, perhaps years after the infection. These brain changes probably occur for multiple reasons. We now know that the virus can actually enter the brain and damage neurons. That doesn’t appear to happen very commonly, but it can certainly play a role in the long-term problems with memory and concentration that we see in some individuals. The virus can also damage the heart and lungs, leading to a lack of adequate blood supply and oxygen to the brain. COVID may also impact the brain through social isolation. People of all ages – young children, teenagers, and adults – were isolated in the effort to stop the spread of the disease. Social isolation has a negative impact on brain health and cognitive functioning. But we don’t yet understand the long-term impact of isolation, especially when it is experienced over an extended period of time, and who is most vulnerable.
I try to keep a positive outlook on brain health. Healthy diet, exercise, life-long learning, and managing stress are positive steps that we can all take to help us maintain our physical, mental, and cognitive health as we get older. Sometimes, however, challenges come along in life over which we don’t have much control. One of those was the emergence of the SARS-CoV2 virus that caused COVID. The pandemic upended all our lives, and many people are still struggling to get back to some semblance of normality. The toll taken by COVID was staggering – the illnesses and hospitalizations, the tragic loss of family and friends to the virus, the social isolation, the loss of jobs – and the list goes on. Now we’re trying to understand the long- term consequences of exposure to the virus. We know that, at least for some people, there are lingering health effects of SARS-CoV2, something we refer to as ‘long COVID’. Even many months after the viral infection is over, some individuals continue to experience problems with their lungs, heart, immune system, and brain. The University of Arizona is part of a large national study called Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery , or RECOVER. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), UofA is one of more than 30 research teams across the country working together to understand, treat and prevent long COVID. The Precision Aging Network at UofA is also focusing on COVID through
Finally, it’s important for all of us to remember that COVID hasn’t gone away. We need to continue to take steps to protect ourselves as best we can. Social isolation isn’t sustainable or healthy. The best way to protect ourselves is by keeping our vaccinations up to date. Masks are still a good idea, especially in crowded places or if you are vulnerable to infection. To read more about the RECOVER study, here’s a link: https://recovercovidstudy. com/arizona/ . You can also find more information about the Precision Aging Network at our website: https:// precisionagingnetwork.org/. To hear about ways that you can participate in our research studies, email us at healthymindsforlife@email.arizona.edu. Lee Ryan is a Professor and Head of the Psychology Department at the University of Arizona. She is a researcher studying aging and Alzheimer’s disease, and is a member of the Precision Aging Network.
Page 6 | August 2023, Never Too Late
Pima Council on Aging
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