Study delves into COVID-19 impacts on dopamine levels in the brain

[00:00:00]Well, if you've noticed a drop in your energy levels, memory, and motivation since having COVID-19, a new brain imaging study shows it's not all in your head or imaginary. Joining us live this morning is Dr. Jeffrey Myers, senior scientist with the Brain Health Imaging Center at Cam Age with some fascinating new research on the link between COVID-19 and dopamine levels in the brain. Dr. Myers, thanks so much for joining us this morning. I'm sure many people are curious to find out more about this study that was published on Friday. So, you're looking at these brain scans.

[00:00:36]What is the link to COVID?

[00:00:39]>> So, what we found using this specialized brain imaging method is that the nerve terminals that release dopamine are lower in people who have long COVID and that there's this relationship with symptoms such that if you have more trouble with motivation, there's reduction of the dopamine nerve terminals in one brain region, troubles with movement speed reduction in another area, and in the third area reduction of dopamine nerve terminals was associated with difficulties with verbal memory.

[00:01:05]>> Mhm. So, we're looking at these images here. I see the long COVID. It doesn't have as much as the red stuff in the images. Help break us break this down for us. What does that tell you?

[00:01:15]>> Sure. So, these are three representative images and the point is in the long COVID, we see less of the binding of the imaging agent and that reflects a loss of the terminals, the nerve terminals that release dopamine. And whereas somebody who's had COVID and recovered well and doesn't have symptoms, there's not this loss of dopamine nerve terminals.

[00:01:36]>> Okay, I have to ask you about the sample study here for for this.

[00:01:40]Was this in a certain kind of age range, between sexes? How many people were involved in this study?

[00:01:46]>> So, there's 24 people who actually had long COVID. So, what I mean by long COVID is that they had about of COVID and then within the upcoming several months, they had symptoms that persisted for at least several months. And in the group that we looked at, they had symptoms of troubles with motivation, troubles with having sad mood, troubles with being able to enjoy things, slowness of movement speed, some collection of symptoms, unfortunately, which evolved and and perhaps persisted. The control groups, we had two types. One was a group who were scanned before COVID ever came. So, they've never been exposed to COVID. And then a control group who had COVID, but recovered well.

[00:02:25]>> Mhm. Interesting. Okay. So, can you say that there's a direct positive correlation between having long COVID and reduced dopamine levels then?

[00:02:36]>> Certainly, we can say that this marker is is really a well-accepted marker of the release of of of dopamine in the in the brain. What it actually does is we give a dye, it goes to the dopamine nerve terminals. And if you have more dye, you have more more dopamine nerve terminals. If you have less dye, you have less dopamine nerve terminals. And so, the being differences are that in the midst of having long COVID, you have a lack of these dopamine nerve terminals as compared to people who recover well from from COVID or people who never had COVID.

[00:03:05]>> Okay. What is CAMH planning to do with this information and letting people know about this? So, if you're sitting at home thinking, "Oh my gosh, I still have long COVID or I've been diagnosed with long COVID." Can they walk into CAMH or their doctor or hospital and say, "Hey, I want this dye checked in my brain so that I know if whether or not I should be taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or going on an antidepressant." What what's kind of the uh what people should do with this information that you're presenting?

[00:03:33]>> Well, I think the first thing to understand is that a loss of dopamine nerve terminals isn't necessarily permanent. People can sprout new dopamine nerve terminals. People do recover sometimes spontaneously from having long COVID symptoms. And so, I think the first thing is not to worry so much in the sense that many people will have a reduction of symptoms over time.

[00:03:51]Uh the second issue is that we need to use this information to develop better ways to help people who don't have spontaneous recovery from long COVID.

[00:03:58]And so, one of our important strategies is to look at treatments that might help the nerves recover or help the nerves release more dopamine and strategies to help people with persistent symptoms. I think if that if you're having symptoms currently, you can always have a discussion either with a consultant at CAMH or a consultant with your your doctor and discuss ways that you might look at managing individual symptoms.

[00:04:21]But, we are in need of studies to show differences between uh treatments and placebos.

[00:04:28]>> Yeah, absolutely. And you know, uh COVID happened and it seems like a lifetime ago, but it affected so many people and we're only learning now about so many of the long effects of COVID aside from, as you pointed out, the dopamine levels. Uh Dr. Jeffrey Meyer, thank you so much for joining us with this uh fascinating study. Appreciate your time. Thank you.