From ‘mental fog’ to post-acute COVID-19 syndrome's executive function alteration: Implications for clinical approach

A common symptom of the neuropsychiatric Post-Acute COVID-19 syndrome (neuro-PACS) is the so called 'brain fog'. Patients describe the brain fog as problems with attention, memory and mental fatigue. Brain fog is experienced by 9–55% of people for months after having contracted SARS-CoV-2 virus. Several theories have been proposed to explain PACS's brain fog, including a neuroinflammatory hypothesis, but the hypothesis remains to be proven. Here, we examined inflammatory and immunological blood profile in a cohort of patients with PACS to investigate the association between executive functions and blood inflammatory markers. Executive function was assessed by the Trail Making Test (TMT) Part A and Part B, as well as the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS), in 71 patients (36 men), average age of 40 years (range: 15–82, SD: 15.7). Impairment in executive functioning (BDEFS scores and TMT B scores) correlated with increased levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6), fibrinogen and ferritin. Moreover, elevated levels of Il-6, fibrinogen, ferritin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and C-reactive protein have been observed in PACS. These findings demonstrate that PACS is characterized by the presence of an immuno-inflammatory process, which is associated with diminished executive functioning. Here, we argue in favour of a shift from the non-descriptive definition of 'mental fog' to a characterization of a subtype of PACS, associated with alteration in executive functioning. Implication for clinical settings and prevention are discussed.