{"id":860168,"date":"2026-08-16T13:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/860168\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T13:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:00:09","slug":"canadian-study-finds-covid-19-related-brain-changes-can-persist-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/860168\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian study finds COVID-19-related brain changes can persist for years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ottawa, Aug. 16 (SANA) COVID-19 may cause changes in the brain that remain detectable years after infection, particularly among people with long COVID, according to a recent Canadian <\/a>study.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of Toronto, working with a brain imaging center under the supervision of Dr. Jeffrey Meyer, compared brain scans of people with long COVID<\/a> <\/a>with those of healthy participants, according to a report published this month by a Canadian mental health center.<\/p>\n

Using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, the researchers identified damage affecting nerve systems associated with dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in movement, attention and motivation.<\/p>\n

The study focused on a brain region involved in movement and motivation, with researchers linking abnormalities in the area to symptoms including slower movement, memory problems and difficulty recalling words.<\/p>\n

Researchers said some of the symptoms persisted for years, suggesting that COVID-19 <\/a>can have long-term neurological effects.<\/p>\n

An estimated 65 million people worldwide experience long COVID, with studies suggesting the condition affects between 2% and 10% of people infected with the virus.<\/p>\n

Researchers said the findings could help advance the development of treatments for long COVID, particularly as many patients still lack access to specialized care.<\/p>\n

R.A\/ABD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ottawa, Aug. 16 (SANA) COVID-19 may cause changes in the brain that remain detectable years after infection, particularly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,84],"class_list":["post-860168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}