Longitudinal evaluation of neurocognitive outcomes in a cohort with persistent post-COVID olfactory dysfunction
Persistent COVID-19-associated olfactory dysfunction (C19OD), along with other neurologic and cognitive deficits are common features of long COVID. This study aims to evaluate longitudinal trends in neurocognitive performance within a cohort with C19OD. In individuals with perceived C19OD we performed serial psychophysical olfactory and neurocognitive assessments at baseline and follow-up one year later. At baseline evaluation, individuals with C19OD were found to have diminished cognitive functioning compared to normosmic counterparts across several domains, including attention, executive functioning, language, learning and memory, and psychomotor speed. At subsequent one-year follow-up assessment, C19OD participants demonstrated cognitive recovery, with performance comparable to normosmic counterparts. These findings suggest that early associations between C19OD and certain neurocognitive domains may dissipate upon repeated longitudinal evaluation, with partial resolution of cognitive deficits despite persistent C19OD.
Authors
- Brandon J. Vilarello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0305-2298)
- Jonathan B. Overdevest (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1152-2512)
- Jeffrey N. Motter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7372-3424)
- Davangere P. Devanand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8597-1380)
- Liam Gallagher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8066-9609)
- Patricia T. Jacobson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8982-9565)
- David A. Gudis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1938-9349)
- Jeremy P. Tervo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8883-8566)
- Joseph B. Gary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4650-555X)
- Francesco F. Caruana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7423-4964)
- Tiana M. Saak
- Terry E. Goldberg
Institutions
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
- Johns Hopkins Medicine (US)
- Texas Health Dallas (US)
- Yale University (US)
- Columbia University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2026-04-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39663-5
- Primary Topic
- Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Irving Medical Center, Columbia University
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences