Correlation between white and gray matter changes and Anxiety and Depression symptoms in post-covid-19 patients

• Grant number: 21/09230-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): September 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Clarissa Lin Yasuda
• Grantee: Beatriz Amorim da Costa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07559-3 - BRAINN - The Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, AP.CEPID

Abstract

The first reported cases SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in December 2019 marked the beginning of one of the most prominent sanitary emergencies in the modern world: the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers and health agents from around the world were mobilized in order to understand this disease, which allowed us to acknowledge that its affliction goes beyond its acute clinical characteristics and may have longitudinal effects, related to various neurological alterations. Therefore, it is essential to analyze long-term neurological and neuropsychiatric effects in this considerable portion of the population affected by COVID-19, since the screening of depression and anxiety symptoms, the focus of this study, is extremely important for the assessment of mental health and daily living issues. Furthermore, we propose the use of patient's magnetic resonance images (MRI) as a tool, associated with self-assessment questionnaires (Beck's anxiety and depression scales), in order to correlate symptoms of depression and anxiety with structural changes in the central nervous system, specifically in white and gray matter, in order to elucidate the relationship between collected clinical data, the severity of SAS-CoV-2 infection and possible changes in brain measurements. (AU)