Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
It’s extremely unclear what the lasting effects of CoViD are or could be. We’ve heard ancedotes of damage to the heart, the circulation, the lungs, even the endothelium. We’ve see an embalmer take us through the cadavers of CoViD victims and show us (figuratively, thank God) blood clots “the size of pancakes,” which, though it applies to dead people, cannot be encouraging for the survivors. Now we see a suggestion that there may be lasting effects to the brain (not unhears of – at least some strains of flu have been known to leave behind them depressions severe enough to lead to suicide – which was useful only to mystery writers looking for red herrings. Sparkling Cyanide. Agatha Christie.)
I subnit that, particularly since so much of the damage of the pandemic has been exacerbated by misconceptions residing in peoples’ brains, this is a possibiliy which badly needs to be studied. I realize that so many medical professionals have been pulled to the fron line in this battle, there may well be a shortage of researchers right now, and those who are active with research are parobably also swamped. But I do think this should become and be a priority.
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Preliminary research finds that even mild cases of COVID-19 leave a mark on the brain – but it’s not yet clear how long it lasts
The new findings, although preliminary, are raising concerns about the potential long-term effects of COVID-19. Yuichiro Chino via Getty Images
With more than 18 months of the pandemic in the rearview mirror, researchers have been steadily gathering new and important insights into the effects of COVID-19 on the body and brain. These findings are raising concerns about the long-term impacts that the coronavirus might have on biological processes such as aging.
As a cognitive neuroscientist, my past research has focused on understanding how normal brain changes related to aging affect people’s ability to think and move – particularly in middle age and beyond. But as more evidence came in showing that COVID-19 could affect the body and brain for months or longer following infection, my research team became interested in exploring how it might also impact the natural process of aging.
Peering in at the brain’s response to COVID-19
In August 2021, a preliminary but large-scale study investigating brain changes in people who had experienced COVID-19 drew a great deal of attention within the neuroscience community.
In that study, researchers relied on an existing database called the UK Biobank, which contains brain imaging data from over 45,000 people in the U.K. going back to 2014. This means – crucially – that there was baseline data and brain imaging of all of those people from before the pandemic.
The research team analyzed the brain imaging data and then brought back those who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 for additional brain scans. They compared people who had experienced COVID-19 to participants who had not, carefully matching the groups based on age, sex, baseline test date and study location, as well as common risk factors for disease, such as health variables and socioeconomic status.
The team found marked differences in gray matter – which is made up of the cell bodies of neurons that process information in the brain – between those who had been infected with COVID-19 and those who had not. Specifically, the thickness of the gray matter tissue in brain regions known as the frontal and temporal lobes was reduced in the COVID-19 group, differing from the typical patterns seen in the group that hadn’t experienced COVID-19.
In the general population, it is normal to see some change in gray matter volume or thickness over time as people age, but the changes were larger than normal in those who had been infected with COVID-19.
Interestingly, when the researchers separated the individuals who had severe enough illness to require hospitalization, the results were the same as for those who had experienced milder COVID-19. That is, people who had been infected with COVID-19 showed a loss of brain volume even when the disease was not severe enough to require hospitalization.
Finally, researchers also investigated changes in performance on cognitive tasks and found that those who had contracted COVID-19 were slower in processing information, relative to those who had not.
While we have to be careful interpreting these findings as they await formal peer review, the large sample, pre- and post-illness data in the same people and careful matching with people who had not had COVID-19 have made this preliminary work particularly valuable.
What do these changes in brain volume mean?
Early on in the pandemic, one of the most common reports from those infected with COVID-19 was the loss of sense of taste and smell.
Some COVID-19 patients have experienced either the loss of, or a reduction in, their sense of smell. Dima Berlin via Getty Images
Strikingly, the brain regions that the U.K. researchers found to be impacted by COVID-19 are all linked to the olfactory bulb, a structure near the front of the brain that passes signals about smells from the nose to other brain regions. The olfactory bulb has connections to regions of the temporal lobe. We often talk about the temporal lobe in the context of aging and Alzheimer’s disease because it is where the hippocampus is located. The hippocampus is likely to play a key role in aging, given its involvement in memory and cognitive processes.
The sense of smell is also important to Alzheimer’s research, as some data has suggested that those at risk for the disease have a reduced sense of smell. While it is far too early to draw any conclusions about the long-term impacts of these COVID-related changes, investigating possible connections between COVID-19-related brain changes and memory is of great interest – particularly given the regions implicated and their importance in memory and Alzheimer’s disease.
Looking ahead
These new findings bring about important yet unanswered questions: What do these brain changes following COVID-19 mean for the process and pace of aging? And, over time does the brain recover to some extent from viral infection?
These are active and open areas of research, some of which we are beginning to do in my own laboratory in conjunction with our ongoing work investigating brain aging.
Brain images from a 35-year-old and an 85-year-old. Orange arrows show the thinner gray matter in the older individual. Green arrows point to areas where there is more space filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) due to reduced brain volume. The purple circles highlight the brains’ ventricles, which are filled with CSF. In older adults, these fluid-filled areas are much larger. Jessica Bernard, CC BY-ND
Our lab’s work demonstrates that as people age, the brain thinks and processes information differently. In addition, we’ve observed changes over time in how peoples’ bodies move and how people learn new motor skills. Several decades of work have demonstrated that older adults have a harder time processing and manipulating information – such as updating a mental grocery list – but they typically maintain their knowledge of facts and vocabulary. With respect to motor skills, we know that older adults still learn, but they do so more slowly then young adults.
When it comes to brain structure, we typically see a decrease in the size of the brain in adults over age 65. This decrease is not just localized to one area. Differences can be seen across many regions of the brain. There is also typically an increase in cerebrospinal fluid that fills space due to the loss of brain tissue. In addition, white matter, the insulation on axons – long cables that carry electrical impulses between nerve cells – is also less intact in older adults.
As life expectancy has increased in the past decades, more individuals are reaching older age. While the goal is for all to live long and healthy lives, even in the best-case scenario where one ages without disease or disability, older adulthood brings on changes in how we think and move.
Learning how all of these puzzle pieces fit together will help us unravel the mysteries of aging so that we can help improve quality of life and function for aging individuals. And now, in the context of COVID-19, it will help us understand the degree to which the brain may recover after illness as well.
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, I hope someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are both pretty important to rational thought processes. With climate change and credile threats to the very existence of democracy looning over us, the last thing we need is more people less able to think rationally. At the very least, rigorous peer review of the study cited here would be a good start.
Yesterday, when I got up, I had internet. Yay! That meant I could have opera. Every Saturday all year round, someone broadcasts a full opera. But it isn’t always my local station, whoch only broadcasts the New Yorkk Metropolitan Opera, roughly November theough May. The rest of the time it is broadcast on WFMT out od Chicago. They mke it available to any station who wants to broadcast it too, but it costs money which my local station doesn’t have. But it can be streamed on WFMT. So I did. Not, of course, before coming here to make sure everyone knew I was all right.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Mother Jones – Trump Extremists Brought Numerous Guns on January 6, Evidence Shows
Quote – Kellye SoRelle, a lawyer who represents the Oath Keepers organization and is close with Rhodes, told Mother Jones in an interview that an Oath Keeper member transported a cache of firearms by truck from North Carolina to the Comfort Inn Ballston shortly before the assault on the Capitol. The member who transported the weapons then stayed at the hotel to oversee the stockpile, SoRelle said. (That Oath Keeper member has not been charged; although Mother Jones corroborated various details from SoRelle’s account, we were unable to confirm that member’s identity.) SoRelle herself may be a subject of growing scrutiny from federal prosecutors; as Mother Jones was first to report recently, the FBI seized SoRelle’s personal phone on September 7 as part of an ongoing “seditious conspiracy” investigation focused on January 6. Click through for what details there are. It actually sounds like we only know about a fraction of the guns which were there. Film at Video Thread (or at the link.)
The Hill – Where Things Stand With The Democratic Agenda: A Pause, A Reset And Maybe Hope
Quote – Afterward, Biden told reporters he was in no rush to pass his agenda, saying that whether passing both bills takes “six minutes, six days or six weeks ― we’re going to get it done.” In a sense, this week’s drama represents a triumph for progressives and party leaders over centrists. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), the Democrat who has been most vocal in opposition to the Build Back Better bill, still has a lot of leverage ― but not as much as he did before. Click through for the story and analysis. The Hill is about as liberal as Joe Scarborough … but even The Hill is talking about “hope” like it’s the good thing that it is.
Wonkette – David Brooks Actually Right About Thing, Wants To Build Back Better Too
Quote – David Brooks is actually right this time. Sort of. He’s about the most right David Brooks is capable of being. Brooks published a column yesterday about the Build Back Better reconciliation bill titled “This Is Why We Need to Spend $4 Trillion.” It seems fair to say that if David Brooks, a man who cannot figure out how to politely say “It’s ham” to a friend bewildered by sub shop options, can figure out that this bill is actually necessary, anyone ought to be able to. Click through for the rest of the take. This is by Robyn Pennachia
It is not enough to get the ball rolling. We have to keep up the momentum. We have to accept that this is a marathon, not a sprint; and that we will have to maintain our effort for a long time. Many will hang on for only a short time and then bail. We need to overcome this “one and done” attitude and inspire people to stick with our crusade for the long haul. We will have to keep them focused amidst all the distractions and temptations that surround us. No great societal change ever occurred overnight, or smoothly. This effort, therefore, is more than a marathon – it is a relay race, and we must make sure that we pass the batons to people who will work diligently for needed change while keeping their eyes on the prize.
We will face formidable opposition from the Powers That Be and their army of mealy-mouthed, forked-tongued spin doctors, as well as exasperation at pushing against the inertia and fickleness of the general American public. The barriers we must overcome include apathy and helplessness on behalf of the oppressed, as well as voter suppression and right-wing propaganda. The numerous laws that Republicans have passed making it harder to vote prove that they are afraid of high voter turnout, especially by marginalized communities. Fortunately, people are already fighting back.
We need a movement that knows what it represents and what it seeks to bring about, as well as realistic ideas of how to bring about those big positive changes. We need leaders who will lead by example instead of just flapping their gums. We need people who have a true vision that balances idealism and realism. We need leaders who know not only what they are fighting against, but more importantly, what they are fighting FOR. The reason so many revolutions fail, or end up as out of the frying pan and into the fire, is the leaders either know only how to destroy but not how to build, or lead for the sake of leading rather than helping those who follow them, like the pigs in Orwell’s Animal Farm. We need leaders and troop-ralliers who really believe in a vision of a better society, a freer one where people are indeed secure in their persons and people receive not only a living wage but also decent and realistic benefits. We need to be clear that we are socialists, not communists – we believe in commerce and business, as well as individual freedom and rights.
We need our own “spin doctors” who know how to counter the patronizing hogwash of the Powers That Be with intelligent – and devastating – replies. We need people who can do research to back up our claims and provide facts and figures from reliable sources that support what we state. Many people will not join or support a movement that lacks credibility. Our foes will cook up their own figures to discredit us, so we must be ready with answers.
This crusade does sound as though it is “taking on the world.” However, that is what we have to do. Thus, instead of just one big group, we need a coalition of activist groups: some concerned with protecting privacy, some with how to fix our medical system, some with how to improve education, some with encouraging businesses to pay a living wage, and so on. There are numerous activist groups already in place tackling such problems, and they are across the political spectrum. Already there are quite a few progressive coalitions out there, and sites that attract progressive activists and groups, so some necessary work has been done.
We need to get all these groups pointed in essentially one direction. That will not be easy, since some lean to the left, and some to the right; not only that, in every group, though people will agree on one thing, they are bound to disagree on some hot-button issue such as guns, abortion, the environment, animal rights, and who is the greatest all-time player for the Yankees. Thus, leading such a coalition is going to be a lot like herding cats. It won’t be easy keeping everybody focused on the common goal, and infighting and bickering are inevitable. However, somebody who has the right combination of charisma, leadership skills and oratory talent can keep this motley crew on the move in the right direction.
Am I volunteering myself? No. I know myself well enough to realize that I am not that person, not the next Gandhi or MLK Jr. or Nelson Mandela. I have good ideas, and I can help organize; but a movement of this scope requires a person of great charisma, intelligence, compassion, dignity, tact, persistence and insight. Someone good at rallying the troops, making speeches, inspiring others, keeping everyone focused. Someone who can work with people of widely differing backgrounds and opinions. Someone who is bold and not afraid of the limelight, yet modest and unpretentious. Someone who can handle both flattery and brickbats. Someone who can stand firm in this position and recognize barricades to progress as detours rather than dead ends. Whoever this Great Leader is, I will gladly support him – or her.
Meidas Touch – We SUED Marjorie Taylor Greene (and won) [It that even a legal use of campaign funds?]
The Lincoln Project – Who They Are
MSNBC – FBI Investigating Fire Attack On Texas County Democratic Party Office
Woman Repairs Butterfly’s Broken Wing With A Feather
Beau – Let’s talk about Milley undermining Trump….
Meidas Touch has a bunch of new podcasts up which they are callin “Family Feud” episodes … mostly, as far as I can tell, 45 minutes long. It will take me a while to find ou whether there are any short ones … but given Republicn a consistency, I’ll hope they’ll peep (Wink, nudge,)
Good morning, all – I’m alive, but my imternet died. I called a friend whose internet works and asked her to sent an email, and she was able not only to do that but to get to my provider’s troubleshooting website (she doesn’t use the same one) and learn there was an outage in my are ant they hoped oet it fixed by 11 pm/ They didn’t. They didn’t get it fixed by midnight.If they had, I would have gotten something up. At that point, I really needed sleep, and jusa got up. Thankfully, it is back! I will have at least a partial Video Thread, because I alreadt=y had some picked and ready. I also already had the cartoon picked, so here it it.
I am fine, Virgil is fiune, and returns all greetings.
Like many of you, I miss the comments and insight that Mitch used to regularly provide here. (And I remain flummoxed on why he can’t logon to our site anymore.)
I was fortunate to be on his email list where he frequently shares heartwarming stories, articles and photos. I felt that it’d be nice if we could “keep in touch” with Mitch, even if only virtually and vicariously. So today’s post is courtesy of Mitch.
A Heartwarming Piper’s Tale
As a bagpiper, I was asked by a local funeral director (with whom I’ve worked before) to play at a graveside service for a homeless man who died all alone, with no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a newly opened pauper’s cemetery in the remote countryside near where we live, and the homeless man would be the first person to be laid to rest there.
Sadly, I was not familiar with the backwoods area and became woefully lost. Not only being male, but also being dressed in my kilt and sporran, I elected not to stop and ask for directions. I continued to drive around until I finally found it … an hour later.
I saw the backhoe and the digging crew who were taking their lunchbreak, but the hearse and funeral director were nowhere in sight. I figured they waited as long as possible and finally left.
Embarrassed at being so late and unsure of what exactly to do, I apologized to the workers for interrupting their lunch because of my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave where I saw the vault lid was already in place.
I assured the workers I would not hold them up too long, but felt that I needed to fulfill my obligations. The workers gathered around while I solemnly began playing my heart out.
As I continued to play the mournful dirges, I could hear the workers begin to quietly weep. I played like I’d never played before, from Abide with Me, Going Home, Flowers of the Forest, and of course closing with Amazing Grace with the workers joining in song.
Upon finishing and packing up my bagpipe, I headed to my car feeling contrite that I was an hour late and missed the actual service itself.
As I was opening the car door and putting my gear in, one of the workers came up to thank me, saying in a heavy Irish brogue: “Sweet Mary and Joseph, I have never heard nothin’ like that before – and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for over twenty years!”
A Baker’s Dozen Clever Ads and Messages – Courtesy of Mitch
