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Introduction: There is a growing interest in the effect of Long-COVID (LC) on cognition, and neuroimaging allows us to gain insight into the structural and functional changes underlying cognitive impairment in LC. We used multimodal neuroimaging data in combination with neuropsychological evaluations to study cognitive complaints in a cohort of LC patients with mild to moderate severity symptoms. Methods: We conducted a 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional MRI (fMRI) sequences on 53 LC patients 1.8 years after acute COVID-19 onset. We administered neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognitive domains and examined correlations with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and resting state. Results: We included 53 participants with LC (mean age, 48.23 years; 88.7% females). According to the Frascati criteria, more than half of the participants had deficits in the executive (59%) and attentional (55%) domains, while 40% had impairments in the memory domain. Only one participant (1.89%) showed problems in the visuospatial and visuoconstructive domain. We observed that increased radial diffusivity in different white matter tracts was negatively correlated with the memory domain. Our results showed that higher resting state activity in the fronto-parietal network was associated with lower memory performance. Moreover, we detected increased functional connectivity among the bilateral hippocampus, the right hippocampus and the left amygdala, and the right hippocampus and the left middle temporal gyrus. These connectivity patterns were inversely related to memory and did not survive false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Discussion: People with LC exhibit cognitive impairments linked to long-lasting changes in brain structure and function, which justify the cognitive alterations detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Sedentary behavior is a risk factor for comorbidities independently of physical activity. Some studies have reported screen time as an unhealthier form of sedentary behavior. This study assessed the association between recreational screen-time behavior and self-perceived health. Study design: This is a cross-sectional study. Methods: As part of the Salut als Carrers Project, in 2018 a survey was conducted in a representative sample (n ​= ​795) of residents aged ​≥ ​18 years living in the borough of Horta, in Barcelona. The survey assessed self-perceived health, recreational screen-time behavior on working and non-working days (Marshall questionnaire), leisure time physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire [IPAQ] long form), socioeconomic status, and age. We analyzed associations between self-perceived health and recreational screen-time sedentary behavior, with adjustment of robust Poisson models for social class, age, and leisure physical activity. All analyses were stratified by gender. Results: A total of 82.7% of men and 82.5% of women reported sedentary behavior during recreational screen time of ≥3 ​h/day on working days, and 63.9% of men and 65.8% of women on non-working days. Spending ≥3 ​h/day sitting in front of a screen for leisure was associated with poor self-perceived health only on working days for men [PR ​= ​1.87 (1.13–3.09)] but not for women [PR ​= ​1.32 (0.82–2.11)] regardless of leisure physical activity, age, and social class. Conclusions: In adults, sedentary behavior during recreational screen time on working days is adversely associated with perceived ill health in men, irrespective of leisure time physical activity. Public health interventions could benefit from promoting a reduction in leisure screen sitting time after working hours.

Background and Purpose: There is a paucity of data on long-term neuroimaging findings from individuals who have developed the post-coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) condition. Only 2 studies have investigated the correlations between cognitive assessment results and structural MR imaging in this population. This study aimed to elucidate the long-term cognitive outcomes of participants with the post-COVID-19 condition and to correlate these cognitive findings with structural MR imaging data in the post-COVID-19 condition., Materials and Methods: A cohort of 53 participants with the post-COVID-19 condition underwent 3T brain MR imaging with T1 and FLAIR sequences obtained a median of 1.8 years after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. A comprehensive neuropsychological battery was used to assess several cognitive domains in the same individuals. Correlations between cognitive domains and whole-brain voxel-based morphometry were performed. Different ROIs from FreeSurfer were used to perform the same correlations with other neuroimaging features., Results: According to the Frascati criteria, more than one-half of the participants had deficits in the attentional (55%, n  = 29) and executive (59%, n  = 31) domains, while 40% ( n  = 21) had impairment in the memory domain. Only 1 participant (1.89%) showed problems in the visuospatial and visuoconstructive domains. We observed that reduced cortical thickness in the left parahippocampal region ( t (48) = 2.28, P  = .03) and the right caudal-middle-frontal region ( t (48) = 2.20, P  = .03) was positively correlated with the memory domain., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cognitive impairment in individuals with the post-COVID-19 condition is associated with long-term alterations in the structure of the brain. These macrostructural changes may provide insight into the nature of cognitive symptoms., (© 2024 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.)