COVID-19 Could Affect Intelligence According To New Study

A new study published in the Lancet has found that people who have recovered from COVID-19 tend to score significantly lower on an intelligence test than those who have not contracted COVID-19. Cognitive underperformance was also associated with illness severity, with those hospitalized on a ventilator performing worse.

Associate Professor Adam Hampshire from Imperial College London was collecting cognitive and mental health data as part of the Great British Intelligence Test when the pandemic escalated in the UK. This allowed him the opportunity to see how contracting COVID-19 affected cognition. The study analysed data from 81,337 participants, of which 12,689 had contracted COVID-19. After controlling for a large range of other factors, they found that those who had experienced COVID-19 performed worse, particularly on planning and problem solving tasks. This aligns with reports of long-COVID, where people have experienced ‘brain fog’ and difficulty concentrating.

Prof. Hampshire concluded, “We need to be careful as it looks like the virus could be affecting our cognition. We do not fully understand how, why, or for how long, but we urgently need to find out. In the meantime, don’t take unnecessary risks and do get vaccinated.”

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