High-density EEG sleep correlates of cognitive and affective impairment at 12-month follow-up after COVID-19

• Published in: Clinical neurophysiology 2022-08, Vol.140, p.126-135
• Main Authors: Rubega, Maria, Ciringione, Luciana, Bertuccelli, Margherita, Paramento, Matilde, Sparacino, Giovanni, Vianello, Andrea, Masiero, Stefano, Vallesi, Antonino, Formaggio, Emanuela, Del Felice, Alessandra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electroencephalography; long COVID-19; nap; neuropsychological assessment
• ISSN: 1388-2457; 1872-8952
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2022.05.017

•Sleep spindles may be a biomarker of psycho-affective symptoms in long COVID-19.•A decreased quality of life and post-traumatic stress symptoms are perceived.•Post-traumatic stress symptoms may crucially contribute to cognitive impairment. To disentangle the physiopathology of cognitive/affective impairment in Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), we studied long-term cognitive and affective sequelae and sleep high-density electroencephalography (EEG) at 12-month follow-up in people with a previous hospital admission for acute COVID-19. People discharged from an intensive care unit (ICU) and a sub-intensive ward (nonICU) between March and May 2020 were contacted between March and June 2021. Participants underwent cognitive, psychological and sleep assessment. High-density EEG recording was acquired during a nap. Slow and fast spindles density/amplitude/frequency and source reconstruction in brain gray matter were extracted. The relationship between psychological and cognitive findings was explored with Pearson correlation. We enrolled 33 participants (16 ICU; 17 nonICU) and 12 controls. We observed a lower Physical Quality of Life index, higher post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) score, and a worse executive function performance in nonICU participants. Higher PTSD and Beck Depression Inventory scores correlated with lower executive performance. The same group showed a reorganization of spindle cortical generators. Our results show executive and psycho-affective deficits and spindle alterations in COVID-19 survivors – especially in nonICU participants – after 12 months from discharge. These findings may be suggestive of a crucial contribution of stress experienced during hospital admission on long-term cognitive functioning.