Tracy Fisher, PhD. lead investigator and associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the Tulane National Primate Research Center.
New research from Tulane University shows that COVID-19 infections can impact the brain, even among those who only experience mild symptoms. Dr. Tracy Fischer is the lead investigator on the first comprehensive assessment of coronavirus and neuropathology.
“We see significant inflammation in the brain and microhemorrhages,” she said. “So these are small bleeds that occur in the brain and. We also saw some neuronal cell death.”
Dr. Fischer says how an individual is impacted is directly related to what areas of the brain experience the trauma.
“Depending on the area where that occurs; could affect balance, concentration, memory…their ability to find words and understand words,” she explained.
She says that damage to the brain went overlooked in patients who didn’t present severe respiratory symptoms.
Tulane’s National Primate Research Center launched its COVID-19 research in 2020, and non-human primates appear to be a consistent model to study how humans experience coronavirus. Fischer hopes that this study and others will help map the long-term effects of COVID and ultimately help in treating it.
“Hopefully we’ll expand this research now that we have even a better understanding of what might be occurring in the brain of individuals who survived an infection,” she said.
Fischer adds that neurological complications are among the first symptoms of COVID and that they affect patients of all ages and without regard to any other conditions, though the severity may vary.
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