People who are experiencing anxiety and depression months after a mild case of COVID-19 may have changes affecting the structure and function of their brains, Brazilian researchers report.
巴西研究人员报告说，在轻症 COVID-19 病例数月后出现焦虑和抑郁的人中可能存在影响其大脑结构和功能的变化。
"There is still much to learn about long COVID, which includes a wide range of health problems, including anxiety and depression, months after infection," said Dr. Clarissa Yasuda of the University of Campinas in São Paulo.
圣保罗坎皮纳斯大学的Clarissa Yasuda 博士说：“关于长期 COVID，还有很多东西需要了解，其中包括广泛的健康问题，包括感染数月后的焦虑和抑郁。”
"Our findings are concerning, as even people with a mild case of COVID-19 are showing changes in their brains months later. More studies are needed to hopefully identify treatments to prevent any long-term effects on people's quality of life," she added.
“我们的研究结果令人担忧，因为即使是轻微的 COVID-19 病例，几个月后他们的大脑也会出现变化。需要更多的研究来确定治疗方法，以防止其对人们的生活质量产生任何长期影响，”她补充说道。
To understand this, the researchers studied 254 people who had a mild COVID-19 infection. On average, the patients were 41 years old and had COVID-19 three months earlier.
为了解这一点，研究人员研究了 254 名轻症 COVID-19 感染者。平均而言，患者年龄为 41 岁，三个月前感染了 COVID-19。
Each participant completed tests of anxiety or depression symptoms and had brain scans.
每个参与者都完成了焦虑或抑郁症状测试，并进行了脑部扫描。
In all, 102 people had symptoms of both anxiety and depression and 152 people had none, the investigators found.
调查人员发现，总共有 102 人同时出现焦虑和抑郁症状，而 152 人则没有。
The researchers then looked for evidence of shrinkage in the brain's gray matter. Scans were compared with those of 148 people who had not had COVID-19.
然后，研究人员寻找了大脑灰质萎缩的证据。将扫描结果与 148 名未感染 COVID-19 的人的扫描结果进行了比较。
Those who had COVID-19 and were experiencing anxiety and depression had shrinkage in the limbic area of the brain, which is involved in memory and emotional processing. Those who had no symptoms of anxiety and depression after COVID-19 had no brain shrinkage, the study authors said.
那些患有 COVID-19 并且正在经历焦虑和抑郁的人的大脑边缘区域出现萎缩，该区域与记忆和情绪处理有关。研究作者说，那些在 COVID-19 后没有出现焦虑和抑郁症状的人没有脑萎缩。
Using a special type of software to analyze networks with resting-state brain activity, the researchers also looked at brain function and changes in connectivity between areas of the brain.
通过使用一种特殊类型的软件来分析具有静息状态大脑活动的网络，研究人员还研究了大脑功能和大脑区域之间连接的变化。
They did this in 84 people from the group with no symptoms; 70 people from the anxiety and depression group; and 90 people who did not have COVID-19. The researchers found widespread functional changes in each of the 12 networks they tested in the group with anxiety and depression symptoms.
他们对 84 名没有症状的人、焦虑抑郁组的70人和 90 名未感染 COVID-19 的人进行了此操作。研究人员发现，在他们测试的具有焦虑和抑郁症状的人群中，他们测试的 12 个网络中的每一个网络都发生了广泛的功能变化。
The COVID-19 group without symptoms also had changes, but in five rather than 12 networks.
没有症状的 COVID-19 组也有变化，但在五个而不是 12 个网络中。
"Our results suggest a severe pattern of changes in how the brain communicates as well as its structure, mainly in people with anxiety and depression with long COVID syndrome, which affects so many people," Yasuda said in a news release from the American Academy of Neurology. "The magnitude of these changes suggests that they could lead to problems with memory and thinking skills, so we need to be exploring holistic treatments even for people mildly affected by COVID-19."
安田在美国科学院的新闻发布会上说：“我们的结果表明，大脑的交流方式及其结构发生了严重的变化，主要发生在患有长期 COVID 综合症的焦虑症和抑郁症患者身上，长期COVID影响着很多人。这些变化的幅度表明，它们可能会导致记忆力和思维能力出现问题，因此我们需要探索整体疗法，即使是对受 COVID-19 轻度影响的人也是如此。”
The findings were made public Monday in advance of their presentation in Boston and online at an American Academy of Neurology meeting April 22 to 27.
研究结果于周一在波士顿公布，并于 4 月 22 日至 27 日在美国神经病学学会会议上在线公布。
Research presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
在发表在同行评审的期刊上之前，在会议上提出的研究应该被视作是初步的。