Extensive study finds small drop in brain volume after COVID-19

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Infection by SARS-CoV-2 causes a dizzying array of symptoms beyond the respiratory distress that is its most notable feature. These range from intestinal distress to blood clots to the loss of smell, and symptoms vary wildly from person to person.

Figuring out exactly what the virus does inside the human body is likely to take years. But we got a bit of data this week from a detailed study of images of the brains of COVID patients. The images were taken before and after the patients were infected. The results suggest some regions of the brain connected to the olfaction system may shrink slightly in the wake of an infection, although the effect is minor and its consequences are unclear.

Hitting the biobank

This is yet another study that relies on the UK's Biobank. The Biobank lets users of the UK's National Health Service volunteer to link their medical records to their genetic profiles and provide medical researchers with a resource of large, population-level studies of risk. In this case, a research team largely based in the UK combed the Biobank for people who had had brain scans prior to a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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