Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41727403›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2025

Evaluating contributions of neuropsychological, psychiatric, and inflammatory processes to the expression of cognitive symptoms in post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.

Luke S Watson, Youssef Toubouti, Sarah M Gray, Núria Guillén, Agnès Pérez-Millan, Lorena Rami, Raquel Sanchez-Valle, Jason K Johannesen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Luke S WatsonSage Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, United States.
Youssef TouboutiSage Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, United States.
Sarah M GraySage Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, United States.
Núria GuillénAlzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Service of Neurology, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Fundació Recerca Clínic Barcelona-IDIBAPS, & Institut de Neurociències, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Agnès Pérez-MillanAlzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Service of Neurology, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Fundació Recerca Clínic Barcelona-IDIBAPS, & Institut de Neurociències, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Lorena RamiAlzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Service of Neurology, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Fundació Recerca Clínic Barcelona-IDIBAPS, & Institut de Neurociències, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Raquel Sanchez-ValleAlzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, Service of Neurology, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Fundació Recerca Clínic Barcelona-IDIBAPS, & Institut de Neurociències, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Jason K JohannesenSage Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) has been widely associated with cognitive symptoms, however, the nature and severity of effects on cognitive function have been difficult to establish amid other aspects of PACS symptomatology. The current study used a regression modeling approach to parse unique and combined contributions of neuropsychological test performance, psychiatric symptoms, and inflammatory cytokine levels in predicting cognitive symptom severity, as measured by questionnaire responses from patient and observer perspectives. Methods: Forty-one patients presenting to a university medical center neurology clinic with cognitive complaints ≥ 4 months after COVID-19 symptom onset were included in the analysis. Results: Although pre-morbid cognitive status was estimated to be at or above-average across participants, nearly 50% performed below expectation on three or more neuropsychological tests. Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q) ratings were clinically elevated, both from patient (MyCog) and observer (TheirCog) perspectives, yet bivariate relationships with neuropsychological and other measures of PACS symptomatology were non-significant. When combined in regression models, 36% of variance in MyCog score was explained by measures of anxiety, premorbid intelligence, and current neuropsychological test performance. TheirCog scores were explained by a unique set of neuropsychological tests, accounting for 33% of variance cumulatively. Measures of depression, fatigue, and inflammatory cytokines concentrations did not enter either model. Discussion: Taken together, cognitive sequelae of PACS appear to be rooted in changes in brain function that are detectable by objective neuropsychological testing. Although comorbidities associated with PACS can contribute to the experience of cognitive symptoms, we find cognitive symptoms, whether self-reported or observed, to be more directly associated with neuropsychological test performance than ongoing fatigue, psychiatric symptoms, or inflammatory processes.

Indexed as

brain-foglong COVIDneuropsychologyrehabilitationsubjective complaints

Identifiers

PMID41727403
PMCPMC12916630

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.