Neurocognitive Impairment After COVID-19: Mechanisms, Phenotypes, and Links to Alzheimer's Disease

SARS-CoV-2 can affect the central nervous system directly or indirectly. AD shares several similarities with long COVID cognitive impairment on a molecular and imaging level, as well as common risk factors. The objective of this review is to evaluate the incidence of post-acute COVID-19 cognitive impairment. Secondarily, we aim to determine if neuroinflammation in COVID-19 survivors may be associated with the onset of neurological disease, with a focus on Alzheimer's disease (AD).

literature search up to March 2025 on the prevalence of cognitive deficits in COVID-19 survivors, underlying pathophysiology and associations with neurological disorders.

a wide array of neuropsychiatric manifestations is associated with COVID-19; executive function, memory, and attention are the most frequently reported neurocognitive deficits, regardless of COVID-19 severity. There are associations between the risks for cognitive deficits post-infection with the age of the patients and the severity of the disease. Increasing evidence suggests that neurocognitive deficits are associated with the onset of neurological and neuropsychiatric disease in COVID-19 survivors.

clinicians caring for COVID-19 survivors should actively investigate neurocognitive sequelae, particularly for patients with increased risk for cognitive deficits.