College of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
Curr Med Res Opin. 2024 Feb;40(2):217-227. doi: 10.1080/03007995.2023.2286312. Epub 2024 Jan 24.
Studies demonstrate that people who have been infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, have experienced cognitive dysfunction, including working memory impairment, executive dysfunction, and decreased concentration. This review aimed to explore the incidence of working memory impairment and possible concomitant symptoms in the acute phase (< 3 months) and chronic phase (> 6 months) of COVID-19.
We conducted a systematic review of the following databases for inception: MEDLINE Pub Med, Cochrane EMBASE, and Web of Science electronic databases. The search strategy was comprised of all the observational studies with COVID-19 patients confirmed by PCR or serology who were infected by SARS-CoV-2 with no previous cognitive impairment. This review protocol was recorded on PROSPERO with registration number CRD 42023413454.
A total of 16 studies from 502 retrieved articles were included. COVID-19 could cause a decline in working memory ability, the results showed that 22.5-55% of the people suffered from working memory impairment in the acute phase (< 3 months) of COVID-19, at 6 months after SARS-CoV2 infection, the impairment of working memory caused by COVID-19 still existed, the prevalence was about 6.2-10%, and 41.1% of the patients had a slight decrease in working memory or a negative change in the boundary value. Moreover, concomitant symptoms could persist for a long time. To some extent, the performance of working memory was affected by age, the time after infection, and the severity of infection ( = -.132, <.001; = .098, <.001; = .075, = .003). The mechanism of working memory impairment after infection was mainly focused on the aspects of neuroinflammation and the nerve invasiveness of the virus; at the same time, we also noticed some changes of the brain parenchymal structure.
COVID-19 can cause a decline in working memory ability, accompanied by neurological symptoms. However, there is a lack of studies to identify the structural and functional changes in specific brain regions that relate to the impaired working memory.
研究表明，感染严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）的人，即 COVID-19 的致病因子，经历了认知功能障碍，包括工作记忆受损、执行功能障碍和注意力下降。本综述旨在探讨 COVID-19 急性（<3 个月）和慢性（>6 个月）期工作记忆受损的发生率以及可能伴随的症状。
我们对以下数据库进行了系统综述：MEDLINE Pub Med、Cochrane EMBASE 和 Web of Science 电子数据库。检索策略包括所有通过 PCR 或血清学确认的 COVID-19 患者的观察性研究，这些患者感染了 SARS-CoV-2，且无先前的认知障碍。本综述方案已在 PROSPERO 上记录，注册号为 CRD42023413454。
从 502 篇检索文章中总共纳入了 16 项研究。COVID-19 可导致工作记忆能力下降，结果表明，22.5-55%的人在 COVID-19 的急性（<3 个月）期出现工作记忆受损，在 SARS-CoV2 感染 6 个月后，COVID-19 引起的工作记忆受损仍然存在，患病率约为 6.2-10%，41.1%的患者工作记忆轻度下降或边界值出现负面变化。此外，伴随症状可能会持续很长时间。在某种程度上，工作记忆的表现受年龄、感染后时间和感染严重程度的影响（r=-.132，p<.001；r=.098，p<.001；r=.075，p=.003）。感染后工作记忆受损的机制主要集中在神经炎症和病毒的神经侵袭方面；同时，我们也注意到脑实质结构的一些变化。
COVID-19 可导致工作记忆能力下降，并伴有神经症状。然而，目前缺乏研究来确定与受损工作记忆相关的特定脑区的结构和功能变化。
