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Relationships between the Fear of COVID-19 Scale and regional brain atrophy in mild cognitive impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2022

Takumi Takahashi Open the ORCID record for Takumi Takahashi [Opens in a new window] ,
Miho Ota ,
Yuriko Numata ,
Ayako Kitabatake ,
Kiyotaka Nemoto ,
Masashi Tamura ,
Masayuki Ide ,
Asaki Matsuzaki ,
Yuko Kaneda  and
Tetsuaki Arai
Takumi Takahashi
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Miho Ota*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Yuriko Numata
Affiliation:
University of Tsukuba Hospital, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Ayako Kitabatake
Affiliation:
University of Tsukuba Hospital, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Kiyotaka Nemoto
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Masashi Tamura
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Masayuki Ide
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Asaki Matsuzaki
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Yuko Kaneda
Affiliation:
University of Tsukuba Hospital, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Tetsuaki Arai
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
*
Author for correspondence: Miho Ota, Email: ota@md.tsukuba.ac.jp
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Abstract

Background:

Several studies have reported that the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) influenced cognitive function in the elderly. However, the effect of COVID-19-related fear on brain atrophy has not been evaluated. In this study, we evaluated the relation between brain atrophy and the effect of COVID-19-related fear by analysing changes in brain volume over time using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods:

Participants were 25 Japanese patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or subjective cognitive decline (SCD), who underwent 1.5-tesla MRI scan twice, once before and once after the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, and the Fear of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Scale (FCV-19S) assessment during that period. We computed regional brain atrophy per day between the 1st and 2nd scan, and evaluated the relation between the FCV-19S scores and regional shrinkage.

Results:

There was significant positive correlation between the total FCV-19S score and volume reduction per day in the right posterior cingulate cortex. Regarding the subscales of FCV-19S, we found significant positive correlation between factor 2 of the FCV-19S and shrinkage of the right posterior cingulate cortex.

Conclusions:

There was positive correlation between the FCV-19S score and regional brain atrophy per day. Although it is already known that the psychological effects surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic cause cognitive function decline, our results further suggest that anxiety and fear related to COVID-19 cause regional brain atrophy.

Keywords

brain atrophyCOVID-19Freesurferthe Fear of COVID-19 Scale
Type
Original Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , June 2022 , pp. 153 - 162
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology

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