Covid attacks the brain directly

Neuroinvasion is the technical name for this route of infection. In this case, the virus can travel directly to the nose, known as permanent cells, near the olfactory bulb. Then, it can replicate or ride the olfactory nerve to the central part of the brain, potentially.

UC Davis released a statement about the researchwhich was published Cell report. Statements include the following:

Using a recently developed nonhuman primate model of the disease, UC Davis researchers revealed that Covid reaches the brain by transport through the nose along the olfactory nerve, a nerve that starts in the brain and ends at the top of the nose.

“We demonstrated not only that the virus infects the brain, but that it also directly infects neurons and can migrate beyond the primary olfactory tract in the neural pathway,” said senior author John Morrison, MD, professor of neurology and UC Davis director of neurology at UC Davis. CNPRC [California National Primate Research Center].

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Their findings leave no doubt that the virus is entering the brain and damaging brain cells along the way, said first author Daniel Beckman, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis. Comparing young and old animals, it became clear that viral infection was more prevalent in older animals. Brain cells in infected older monkeys were found to shrink.

This is important because the neurocytoarchitectural area where the olfactory bulb connects. One of these structures may be very familiar to you: the amygdala, also known as the “fear center” of the brain. (Indeed, It is designed to detect threats; Fear is a body condition, not an environmental cue.)

Other vital connectional areas are those that, along with the amygdala, help encode memory. This is why many researchers are sounding the alarm that Long Covid may be creating its own version of dementia, on the order of Alzheimer’s, if Alzheimer’s itself isn’t triggered:

Perhaps most striking was the distance the virus traveled in older animals compared to young, healthy animals. Although the virus is mostly found in the primary olfactory cortex of vaccinated animals, the virus is more diffuse in older animals. Cellular markers of SARS-CoV-2 have been seen in brain regions extending beyond immediate sensation and smell perception and in areas highly involved in emotion, memory and cognition in older animals. These findings raise concerns about a potential spike in neurodegenerative diseases as infected adults age and vulnerability to dementia-related illnesses such as Alzheimer’s.

“Especially in older monkeys, the virus is infecting neurons in regions known to be highly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease,” Morrison Dr.

^{(Emphasis added.)}

Now, what was the culprit: the virus itself or inflammation as a downstream process? It seems that still needs to be teased, but suffice it to say that both can happen simultaneously; It doesn’t have to be one or the other. But studies have shown that “The intensity with which SARS-CoV-2 induced inflammation in aged rhesus macaques led to significant damage,” according to one researcher.

I plan to write a lot more on this topic in the near future, but I wanted to quickly put up this stub of an article to give people more information, more ways for us all to equip ourselves. All the more reason to keep masking the results! Get encouraged (ie, if your doctor doesn’t think it would be contraindicated); But protect your airway! Keep that critter out of the nose.

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Edited Thanks it’s just a test for an important fix Study links.