Resilience of Neural Networks Underlying the Stroop Effect in the Aftermath of Severe COVID-19: fMRI Pilot Study.

ingentiumby ingentium

In Computing Literature.

Publication date: Jun 12, 2025

Alterations in resting-state functional connectivity and in activation patterns elicited during cognitive tasks were reported in acute to chronic stages of mild, moderate and critical SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggesting the dysregulation of specialised neural networks. In this pilot study, we report on activation patterns elicited by the colour-word Stroop task in patients who suffered from severe COVID-19 requiring Intensive Care Unit hospitalisation but who had no prior or COVID-19-related brain damage. Neural activity elicited during a 16 min long colour-word Stroop task was investigated with 3T fMRI 9 months after severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in six patients and in twenty-four control subjects. Patients’ performance in the Stroop task was within normal limits, with the exception of one (out of six) response time in one patient and one (out of six) accuracy measure in another patient. Activation elicited by the Stroop effect, i. e., the contrasting Incongruent vs. Congruent condition, differed between the first and second parts of the task. In controls, the Stroop effect yielded an increase in activity in prefrontal, cingulate and parieto-temporal clusters as well as in the nucleus accumbens during the first part, and the activity receded during the second part in most regions. Two distinct response profiles were found among patients: (i) a Stroop effect-linked increase during the first part followed by a partial decrease during the second part, as in healthy subjects; and (ii) a weak or absent Stroop effect increase during the first part followed by a partial increase during the second part. The normal performance presented by patients on the Stroop task was associated with two distinct activation patterns. They may represent different resilience profiles of the corresponding neural networks and be indicative of propensity for further recovery and/or susceptibility to therapeutic interventions.

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Concepts Keywords
Covid brain plasticity
Hospitalisation fatigue
Months fMRI
Pilot severe COVID-19
Severe Stroop task

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH COVID-19
pathway REACTOME SARS-CoV-2 Infection
disease IDO susceptibility
drug DRUGBANK Efavirenz
disease MESH stroke
disease MESH cardiac arrest
disease IDO history
disease MESH cognitive dysfunction
disease MESH long COVID
disease MESH infection
disease IDO process
disease MESH blindness
disease MESH Anxiety
disease MESH Depression
disease MESH Apathy
disease MESH Sleepiness
disease MESH Insomnia
disease MESH Mental fatigue
disease IDO parasite
drug DRUGBANK Coenzyme M
drug DRUGBANK Flunarizine
drug DRUGBANK MCC
disease MESH Neuroticism
drug DRUGBANK Huperzine B
disease MESH death
disease MESH Critically ill
disease MESH Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
disease MESH gambling
drug DRUGBANK Indoleacetic acid
disease MESH memory deficits
drug DRUGBANK Water
pathway REACTOME Glucose metabolism
drug DRUGBANK Ilex paraguariensis leaf
disease MESH syndromes
disease MESH aphasia
disease IDO intervention
disease MESH Coronavirus Infections
drug DRUGBANK Gold
disease MESH Complications
disease MESH Multiple Sclerosis
disease MESH Schizophrenia
disease MESH Daytime Sleepiness
disease MESH Dissociation
disease MESH Encephalopathy
disease MESH Abnormalities
disease MESH Tumors
disease IDO production
disease IDO site

Original Article

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