Damage to the brainstem – the brain’s “control centre” – is “likely” to be responsible for the physical and psychiatric symptoms of long Covid , powerful MRI scanners have revealed. Ultra high-resolution scanners, known as 7-Tesla or 7T scanners, which show the living brain in fine detail, were used to examine people admitted to hospital with severe Covid early in the pandemic – before vaccines were available – to see if brainstem abnormalities persist in the long term. While more research is needed – the study involved only 30 people – scientists say the results showed a link between brainstem damage and symptoms like extreme tiredness, shortness of breath and brain fog.
Dr Catarina Rua, who helped lead the research at the University of Cambridge, said the 7T scanners allowed them to inspect living brains in such a detailed way for the first time as they were able to detect how immune cells were behaving. “Things happening in and around the brainstem are vital for quality of life, but it had been impossible to scan inflammation of brainstem nuclei in living people, because of their tiny size and difficult position,” she said. “Usually, scientists only get a good look at the brainstem during post-mortem examinations.
” Scientists at the university’s department of clinical neurosciences compared the scans of the 30 patients with those of 51 people with no history of Covid infection. Abnormalities associated with a neuroinflammatory response were .