People with long COVID can experience lingering symptoms weeks, months or even years after their initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Even some medical treatments can induce brain fog - for example, certain blood pressure medications, sleep aids and chemotherapy.īut perhaps the most high-profile cause of brain fog currently is long COVID. High blood pressure, low blood sugar, head injuries and sleep deprivation can all produce the effect, as can the onset of menopause. Patients with depression or anxiety may be familiar with scattered, muddled feelings associated with brain fog. Inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis or lupus can induce chronic brain fog, as well as bacterial infections like Lyme disease. This region, which covers part of the frontal lobe, "is the most recently evolved part of our brains," Arnsten said, "and it has different neurotransmission than some of our older, more traditional circuits, like in sensory cortexes." These delicate neural circuits may be particularly sensitive to inflammation caused by infection or head trauma.īut brain fog can accompany a whole host of conditions.
It could be caused by some mild structural or functional damage to an area of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in cognitive processes such as planning and decision making. Patients presenting with brain fog may have an underlying health condition. "I see brain fog as a sign that something is amiss," Sabina Brennan, a neuroscientist and author of the book " Beating Brain Fog" (Orion Publishing Group, 2021), told Live Science in an email. Just because brain fog lacks a strict clinical definition doesn't mean it isn't real.
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