Publication date: Jul 11, 2026
Long COVID can cause persistent symptoms such as fatigue, cognitive difficulties commonly described as brain fog, reduced exercise tolerance, and impaired quality of life. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that may help modulate brain activity in regions involved in cognition, fatigue, and executive function. The NEUROSTIM-LC study will evaluate the feasibility and potential effects of repeated tDCS sessions in adults with long COVID presenting fatigue and/or brain fog. Participants will receive 30 sessions of tDCS applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Assessments will be performed before and after the intervention to evaluate changes in quality of life, fatigue, cognitive function, brain metabolism, physical performance, autonomic function, sleep quality, psychological symptoms, respiratory function, and blood biomarkers.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Brain fog | |
| Chronic Fatigue | |
| Cognitive impairment | |
| Heart rate variability | |
| Long COVID | |
| Neuromodulation | |
| PET-CT | |
| Quality of life | |
| tDCS |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | Brain Fog |
| disease | MESH | Fatigue |
| disease | MESH | Long COVID |
| pathway | REACTOME | Metabolism |
| disease | MESH | SARS-CoV-2 infection |
| pathway | REACTOME | SARS-CoV-2 Infection |
| disease | MESH | cognitive impairment |
| disease | MESH | epilepsy |
| disease | MESH | seizures |
| disease | MESH | neurological disorders |
| disease | MESH | stroke |
| disease | MESH | Parkinson’s disease |
| disease | MESH | neurodegenerative disorders |
| disease | MESH | fibromyalgia |
| disease | MESH | chronic fatigue syndrome |
| disease | MESH | multiple sclerosis |
| disease | MESH | psychiatric disorders |
| disease | MESH | psychosis |
| disease | MESH | Substance abuse |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Ethanol |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Filgrastim |