英國劍橋大學的科學家評估了新冠病毒感染可能對人類認知能力造成的損害。研究結果顯示，患者認知能力喪失的程度相當于“衰老20年”。這項研究的結果發(fā)表在《臨床醫(yī)學》雜志上，研究人員在對阿登布魯克醫(yī)院接受住院治療的46名新冠肺炎患者進行研究后得出了相關數據。

In a study comparing 46 severe COVID-19 patients with 460 matched controls, researchers found the mental impacts of severe COVID-19 six months later can be the equivalent to aging 20 years – going from 50 to 70 years old – or losing 10 IQ points.
在一項將46名新冠肺炎重癥患者與460人的匹配對照組進行比較的研究中，研究人員發(fā)現，這些患者在感染新冠病毒6個月后受到的認知影響相當于衰老20年（從50歲到70歲），或智商降低10個點。

The specific mental changes were also distinct to those seen in early dementia or general aging.
這種特殊的認知變化與早期癡呆癥或常規(guī)衰老明顯不同。

"Cognitive impairment is common to a wide range of neurological disorders, including dementia, and even routine aging, but the patterns we saw – the cognitive 'fingerprint' of COVID-19 – was distinct from all of these," says neuroscientist David Menon from the University of Cambridge in the UK, who was senior author of the study.
英國劍橋大學的神經科學家大衛(wèi)·梅農是該研究論文的資深作者，他稱：“神經系統疾病都會導致認知能力下降，包括癡呆，甚至是常規(guī)衰老也會如此，但我們看到的新冠病毒對認知能力的影響與所有這些有所不同。”

The experiment involved 46 people who'd gone to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge as a result of COVID-19 between March and July 2020. Sixteen of them were put on mechanical ventilation during their stay.
這項實驗涉及46名在2020年3月至7月期間在劍橋阿登布魯克醫(yī)院接受治療的新冠肺炎患者。其中16人在住院期間使用了呼吸機。

An average of six months after their infection, researchers supervised them using a testing tool called Cognitron to see how they were doing in areas such as memory, attention, reasoning, as well as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
感染后平均六個月，研究人員使用測試工具Cognitron對他們進行監(jiān)測，了解他們在記憶力、注意力、推理、焦慮、抑郁和創(chuàng)傷后應激障礙等方面的表現。

The researchers didn't have test results from before these individuals fell ill with COVID to compare to. Instead they did the next best thing, and compared their results against a matched control group of 460 people.
研究人員沒有這些患者在感染新冠之前的檢測結果可比較，于是退而求其次，將他們的檢測結果與460人的匹配對照組進行比較。

These results were then mapped to see how far they deviated from expected scores for their age and demographic, based on 66,008 members of the general public.
然后，根據66008名普通大眾的情況，對這些結果進行測繪，看他們與自己所在年齡段的預期分數有多大偏差。

The results showed that those who'd survived severe COVID were less accurate and had slower response times than the general public.
結果顯示，與普通人相比，這些患者的檢測結果準確率更低，反應時間也更慢。

The magnitude of cognitive loss was similar to the effects of aging between 50 and 70 years of age – and equivalent to losing 10 IQ points.
他們的認知能力喪失程度與從50歲到70歲的認知能力喪失程度相似，也相當于失去10個智商點。

The somewhat good news is that, upon follow up, there were some signs of recovery – but it was gradual at best.
好消息是，在后續(xù)的跟蹤調查中，這些患者的認知能力有一些恢復的跡象，但最好的情況也只是逐步的。

"We followed some patients up as late as ten months after their acute infection, so were able to see a very slow improvement," says Menon.
梅農稱:“我們對一些感染新冠病毒后十個月的患者進行了隨訪，能夠看到他們的認知能力有非常緩慢的改善。”

"While this was not statistically significant, it is at least heading in the right direction, but it is very possible that some of these individuals will never fully recover."
“雖然這在統計上并不顯著，但至少正朝著正確的方向發(fā)展。不過，其中一些人很可能永遠無法完全恢復?！?/p>

This study only looked at the more extreme end of hospitalized patients, but there are plenty of other studies showing that even 'mild' cases can cause similar cognitive impacts.
這項研究只研究了住院患者這種極端情況，但還有大量其他研究表明，即使是“輕微”病癥也會造成類似的認知影響。

What's still not fully understood is why and how the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes this cognitive decline.
目前尚不完全清楚新冠病毒為何以及如何導致認知能力下降。

Previous research has shown that during severe COVID, the brain decreases glucose consumption in the frontoparietal network, which is involved in attention, problem solving, and working memory. It's also known that the virus can directly affect the brain.
此前的研究表明，新冠肺炎癥狀嚴重時，大腦會減少額頂葉的葡萄糖消耗，額頂葉負責注意力、問題解決和工作記憶等功能。眾所周知，新冠病毒會直接影響大腦。

But the researchers suggest the likely culprit isn't direct infection, but a combination of factors: including reduced oxygen or blood supply to the brain; clotting of vessels; and microscopic bleeds.
但研究人員認為，罪魁禍首可能不是感染病毒本身，而是多種因素的綜合作用：包括大腦供氧或血液供應減少、靜脈血栓以及輕微出血。

There's also mounting evidence that the body's own immune and inflammatory response may be having a significant impact on the brain.
還有越來越多的證據表明，人體自身的免疫和炎癥反應可能對大腦產生嚴重影響。

The research has been published in eClinical Medicine.
這項研究發(fā)表在《臨床醫(yī)學》上。

來源：Science Alert
編輯：董靜