
Without sleep, our mind will never be fully recovered and cause many symptoms related to brain fog. Thus, it is well known that sleep deprivation is bad for brain health, and over time, it can deteriorate healthy brain function and trigger brain fog ( 2). Lack of SleepĮveryone needs enough sleep for their brain and body to recuperate. Stress can also cause inflammation, insomnia, defective immune system, and difficulty focusing, which can play a role in brain fog. Over time, the stress will make it harder to think clearly and contribute to brain fog ( 1). Increased Stress LevelsĬhronic stress can put your brain function into overdrive, which can lead to exhausted cognition. Instead, there is often a combination of factors and causes of brain weariness that vary from one person to another. There is no singular root cause that can cause brain fog.

Also, brain fog can lead to apathy and a lack of motivation as well.īrain fog is often associated with age-related cognitive decline or lifestyle choices, but it can occur at any stage in life and can affect anyone. This can influence your well-being and ability to find joy in enjoyable activities like you usually would.

It can also make you feel tired and distracted. It can make you forgetful or slower at processing information and completing tasks. Let’s dive in to understand better the circumstances.īrain fog is the term for the feelings of cloudy thoughts, difficulty organizing ideas, and cognitive dysfunction. However, some solutions and treatment options may help.

There are a lot of causes of brain fog and different cognitive symptoms associated with brain fog. It can even influence your well-being and quality of life. This can dampen your production and contribute to poor concentration. doi: 10.1080/ fog, often synonymous with chronic fatigue syndrome, describes a feeling of mental fatigue that can impact cognitive impairment. Outcomes in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) at 6 months post-infection part 1: cognitive functioning. Whiteside D.M., Basso M.R., Naini S.M., Porter J., Holker E., Waldron E.J., et al. Neurocognitive profiles in patients with persisting cognitive symptoms associated with covid-19. Krishnan K., Miller A.K., Reiter K., Bonner-Jackson A. Cognitive impairment after covid-19-a review on objective test data. An Italian multicenter retrospective-prospective observational study on neurological manifestations of covid-19 (NEUROCOVID) Neurol Sci. įerrarese C., Silani V., Priori A., Galimberti S., Agostoni E., Monaco S., et al. Therefore, patients with persistent cognitive complaints in the setting of PASC who score in the normal range on the MoCA should be referred for formal NP assessment.ĬOVID-19 Cognitive deficits Montreal cognitive assessment Neuropsychological testing “Brain fog”.Ĭopyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. The MoCA may not be accurate for detecting neither mild nor more severe degrees of diminished NP test performance in PASC. The MoCA had an accuracy of 63.3% at detecting any degree of diminished NP performance, and an accuracy of 73.3% at detecting extremely low NP performance. MoCA score was inversely correlated with fatigue and depression measures and ethnic minority participants scored on average lower, despite similar education and estimated premorbid function.

The overall sample had a mean score of 26.1 on the MoCA, with approximately one third screening below the cutoff score of 26, similar to the rate of extremely low NP test performance. Sixty participants underwent neuropsychological, psychiatric, and medical assessments, as well as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 6-8 months after acute COVID-19 infection. To determine the utility of the MoCA to screen for cognitive impairment in PASC. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has been used to estimate prevalence of cognitive impairment in many studies of PASC, and is commonly employed as a screening test in this population, however, its validity has not been established. Cognitive complaints are one of the most frequent symptoms reported in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).
