A study conducted by the University of Oxford concluded that individuals who contracted Covid-19 with mild symptoms, and who do not experience any other traditional symptoms of "long Covid," may remain vulnerable to attention and memory deterioration for six to nine months post-infection.
Cognitive issues affecting concentration levels, along with forgetfulness and fatigue, are characteristics of long Covid, a condition that affects some people after the initial infection, but the extent of attention-related problems following a Covid-19 infection has not been clearly established.
In the study, participants who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 but did not display other traditional long Covid symptoms were asked to complete exercises to test their memory and cognitive abilities. Researchers found that participants were significantly worse at recalling personal experiences, known as episodic memory, for up to six months after infection.
They also experienced a greater decline in their ability to maintain attention over time compared to non-infected individuals, continuing to nine months after infection. Researchers noted that individuals showed a return to their baseline episodic memory and attention levels to a large extent by six and nine months, respectively.
Participants also performed well in other cognitive ability tests, including working memory and planning, in the analysis which included 136 participants.
