Global slowness and increased intra-individual variability are key features of attentional deficits and cognitive fluctuations in post COVID-19 patients

Autor: Paola Ortelli, Francesco Benso, Davide Ferrazzoli, Ilaria Scarano, Leopold Saltuari, Luca Sebastianelli, Viviana Versace, Roberto Maestri
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17463-x
Popis: Abstract Fatigue, attentional deficits and cognitive fluctuations are the most characterizing symptoms of neurological involvement in Post COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). As the intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive performances has been recognized as a hallmark of brain-related disorders associated with cognitive deficits, it could be an interesting measure to elucidate the mechanisms subtending both the attentive impairment and the cognitive fluctuations in these patients. By referring to IIV analysis of Reaction Times (RTs), the present study aims to define the attentive impairment and its relation to fluctuations and fatigue, in patients suffering from Post COVID-19 neurological symptoms. 74 patients were enrolled. They underwent an extensive clinical and neuropsychological assessments, as well as computerized Sustained Attention and Stroop tasks. For studying IIV, RTs distributions of performances in computerized tasks were fitted with ex-Gaussian distribution, for obtaining the τ values. Finally, the Resting Motor Threshold (RMT) was also collected to estimate cortical excitability. 29 healthy volunteers served as controls. Patients showed poorer scores in Montreal Cognitive Assessment and higher RMT, in comparison with controls. In Sustained Attention Task, Mean, µ, σ and τ values were significantly higher in PCS patients (p value =
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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