COVID-19 can affect the brain long after infection

After three years of covering Long COVID, I remain fascinated—and terrified—by the range of effects the SARS-CoV-2 virus can have on the brain.

It's been linked to everything from brain fog to dementia to strokes, and even relatively mild cases can have profound effects. I wanted to know how one virus can cause this huge range of neurocognitive issues. And I’m not alone: leading researchers are also still trying to answer that question.

The central debate is whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus directly infects the brain, or sets off a cascade of immune effects thatlead to symptoms. There’s evidence to support both theories—and it’s possible that both are happening at once, experts told me. There may not be a single fix to this wide range of problems, but the scientists I interviewed said they’re optimistic that solutions are out there. “The brain is incredibly neuroplastic,” Vanderbilt’s Dr. Wes Ely says, “and it can do amazing things.”

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