neurological problems

Can COVID-19 coronavirus “invade” human brain tissue? (Quick answer: evidence so far is mixed)

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Brain scans show low­er part of a COVID-19 patient’s brain stem, post­mortem. Arrows point to light and dark spots sug­gest­ing blood ves­sel dam­age, with­out signs of infec­tion by the coro­n­avirus that caus­es COVID-19. Cred­it: Nation­al Insti­tute of Neu­ro­log­i­cal Dis­or­ders and Stroke, NIH

Tak­ing a Clos­er Look at COVID-19’s Effects on the Brain (NIH Direc­tor’s blog):

While pri­mar­i­ly a res­pi­ra­to­ry dis­ease, COVID-19 can also lead to neu­ro­log­i­cal prob­lems. The first of these symp­toms might be the loss of smell and taste, while some peo­ple also may lat­er bat­tle headaches, debil­i­tat­ing fatigue, and trou­ble think­ing clear­ly, some­times referred to as “brain fog.” All of these symp­toms have researchers won­der­ing how exact­ly the coro­n­avirus that caus­es COVID-19, SARS-CoV­‑2, affects the human brain. [Read more…] about Can COVID-19 coro­n­avirus “invade” human brain tis­sue? (Quick answer: evi­dence so far is mixed)

Let’s anticipate the potential misuse of neurological data to minimize the risks–and maximize the benefits

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The per­ils of open­ing the mind (Boston Globe):

“For­get the joy­stick. Today you can use your mind alone to nav­i­gate vir­tu­al envi­ron­ments or fly real-world drones. You can buy sleek head­bands that read your brain sig­nals and help you med­i­tate or stay focused. Or you can get them for your kids to make sure they’re work­ing, not day­dream­ing [Read more…] about Let’s antic­i­pate the poten­tial mis­use of neu­ro­log­i­cal data to min­i­mize the risks–and max­i­mize the benefits

Playing American football before age 12 is linked to long-term neuropsychiatric and cognitive problems

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Tack­le foot­ball before age 12 may boost risks of cog­ni­tive, mood dis­or­ders (Ars Technica):

“Tak­ing hard knocks ear­ly in life could shove foot­ball play­ers toward neu­ro­log­i­cal prob­lems lat­er, a new study suggests.

Among 214 for­mer ama­teur and pro­fes­sion­al male foot­ball play­ers, those who start­ed play­ing early—particularly before the age of 12—had greater risks of report­ing depres­sion and impaired behav­ioral reg­u­la­tion and exec­u­tive func­tion around their 50s, researchers found [Read more…] about Play­ing Amer­i­can foot­ball before age 12 is linked to long-term neu­ropsy­chi­atric and cog­ni­tive problems