Long COVID Brain Fog Treatment: Findings from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Constraint-Induced Cognitive Therapy.
Gitendra UswatteEdward TaubKarlene BallBrandon S MitchellJason A BlakeStaci McKayFedora BineyOlesya IosipchukPiper HempflingElise HarrisAnne DickersonKristine LokkenAmy J KnightVictor W MarkShruti AgnihotriGary CutterPublished in: medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences (2024)
Brain fog in adults with Long COVID is often associated with dysfunction in everyday activities and unemployment. Yet, there are no empirically supported treatments targeting cognition in this population. Findings from this small-scale, pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) suggest that a novel intervention, i.e., Constraint-Induced Cognitive Therapy, is a feasible cognitive rehabilitation method in adults with Long COVID cognitive sequelae with promise of (a) improving performance of cognition-based tasks in daily life and (b) promoting return-to-work. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted.Speed of Processing Training (SOPT) has been shown to increase processing speed in older adults without neurological disorders but has not been applied to adults with brain fog due to Long COVID, in whom slowing of cognitive processing speed is common. The results of this pilot RCT suggest that SOPT, in conjunction with behavior change techniques, may increase cognitive processing speed in this brain-injured population.
Keyphrases
- randomized controlled trial
- coronavirus disease
- sars cov
- white matter
- study protocol
- resting state
- physical activity
- functional connectivity
- systematic review
- mild cognitive impairment
- stem cells
- oxidative stress
- clinical trial
- machine learning
- cancer therapy
- endothelial cells
- artificial intelligence
- deep learning
- blood brain barrier
- drug delivery
- meta analyses