Clinical phenotyping of cognitive disorders in 'long covid' [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Clinical phenotyping to enable targeted treatment of persistent cognitive symptoms after COVID-19
IRAS ID
294445
Contact name
Alan Carson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
People with ‘Long Covid’ describe memory and concentration problems. Studies examining how people perform on memory and intelligence tests have found that patients who have had COVID-19 perform worse than those who have not. But to date, we don’t know why they have poorer cognitive function.
Memory and concentration symptoms in ‘Long Covid’ are likely to have different causes in different people. Some may have had direct infection or inflammation of the brain, or blockages to blood vessels in the brain. In others, underlying brain disease may have been ‘unmasked’ by COVID-19. Some may have functional cognitive disorders, where memory and concentration problems are the result of changes in the brain’s ‘software’. In others, anxiety, low mood or fatigue may contribute to their symptoms. Each of these conditions has a different outcome and treatment.
This study aims to closely examine 100 people with persisting cognitive symptoms after COVID-19, assessing the cognitive problems as well as markers of brain damage, inflammation, and underlying degenerative brain disease.
We expect this study to provide scientific evidence to allow health services to provide targeted and effective treatment and rehabilitation for people with memory and concentration symptoms as part of ‘Long Covid’.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
21/NS/0035
Date of REC Opinion
14 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion