COVID-19 associated with "significant, deleterious impact" on brain, finds U.K. study

Scans and cognition tests collected from hundreds of people suggest coronavirus infection is associated with "a significant, deleterious" change in the brain, according to a study published Monday from scientists in the United Kingdom. 

The paper, published in the journal Nature, draws on data in the U.K. Biobank from 401 people between the ages of 51 and 81 who had COVID-19 through April 2021. 

Researchers analyzed data from brain scans and tests collected from participants both before they were infected with the disease, and from a second round conducted later, close to five months on average after they tested positive.