Post-COVID-19 human memory impairment: A PRISMA-based systematic review of evidence from brain imaging studies

Dan Shan; Shaoyang Li; Ruichen Xu; Glen Nie; Yangyiran Xie; Junchu Han; Xiaoyi Gao; Yuandian Zheng; Zhen Xu; Zhihao Dai

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.1077384

Post-COVID-19 human memory impairment: A PRISMA-based systematic review of evidence from brain imaging studies

Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Dec 9:14:1077384. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.1077384. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Dan Shan¹, Shaoyang Li², Ruichen Xu³, Glen Nie⁴, Yangyiran Xie⁵, Junchu Han⁶, Xiaoyi Gao⁷, Yuandian Zheng¹, Zhen Xu⁸, Zhihao Dai⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
² Faculty of Science, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
³ Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.
⁴ Department of Biological Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States.
⁵ School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States.
⁶ New York State Psychiatric Institute, Global Psychiatric Epidemiology Group, New York, NY, United States.
⁷ School of Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, United States.
⁸ Minhang Crosspoint Academy at Shanghai Wenqi Middle School, Shanghai, China.
⁹ School of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.

Abstract

Many people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) report varying degrees of memory impairment. Neuroimaging techniques such as MRI and PET have been utilized to shed light on how COVID-19 affects brain function in humans, including memory dysfunction. In this PRISMA-based systematic review, we compared and summarized the current literature looking at the relationship between COVID-19-induced neuropathological changes by neuroimaging scans and memory symptoms experienced by patients who recovered from COVID-19. Overall, this review suggests a correlational trend between structural abnormalities (e.g., cortical atrophy and white matter hyperintensities) or functional abnormalities (e.g., hypometabolism) in a wide range of brain regions (particularly in the frontal, parietal and temporal regions) and memory impairments in COVID-19 survivors, although a causal relationship between them remains elusive in the absence of sufficient caution. Further longitudinal investigations, particularly controlled studies combined with correlational analyses, are needed to provide additional evidence.

Keywords: COVID-19; MRI; PET; brain; memory impairment; neuroimaging.

Publication types

Review