Independent Component Analysis in Long Covid during cognitive exertion reveals widespread deficits in BOLD activity

Motivation: To understand the cognitive deficits of Long Covid (LCov). Goal(s): What are the brain locations with different BOLD activity in LCov?Approach: Two consecutive fMRI were acquired in 19 LCov and 16 healthy controls (HC) with a 7 Tesla scanner during the cognitive color-word Stroop task. Run2 was affected by fatigue induced by Run1. BOLD time series were processed with the CONN toolbox and submitted to independent component analysis (group ICA). Results: ICA detected widespread deficits in LCov activity and sensorimotor excesses. The extent of LCov activity differences supports the hypothesis that global Covid19 infection affects brain-wide BOLD activity and regulatory function. Impact: Our discovery of brain-wide changes in Long Covid BOLD activity supports the mechanism of brain-wide Covid-19 infection inducing cognitive deficits. Research should be directed to therapies that eliminate cerebral infection and facilitate and monitor recovery from virus inflicted damage.