New research uses a 7 Tesla MRI to examine brain connectivity during a cognitively demanding task in people with Long COVID and ME/CFS. The findings show that healthy brains increase connectivity under fatigue, whereas these patient groups exhibit disrupted or weaker connections among deep brain regions, the nucleus accumbens, cerebellum, hippocampus, and prefrontal areas during and after mental effort. The study uses a Stroop task with pre and post fatigue sessions to reveal how neural communication differs in these conditions.
This article is of interest to psychology because it links subjective experiences of brain fog and cognitive difficulties to observable changes in brain networks involved in executive function, motivation, and autonomic regulation. It illustrates how neuroimaging can uncover compensatory or maladaptive connectivity patterns that underlie cognitive fatigue and inform theories of cognitive control.
Article Title: Brain scans reveal neural connectivity deficits in Long COVID and ME/CFS
Link to PsyPost Article: ift dot tt/c57Ntia
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#LongCOVID #ME/CFS #BrainConnectivity #CognitiveFatigue #Neuroimaging
