Study finds long Covid could cause decline in IQ points

A new study’s findings suggest Covid-19 could have longer-term effects on cognition and memory that lead to measurable differences in cognitive performance, The Washington Post reported.

The study was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. It found participants who recovered from Covid symptoms had a cognitive decline of three IQ points compared with those who weren’t infected, according to The Post. But those who have Covid symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more lost the equivalent of six IQ points. 

However, researchers did say the decline in IQ points could be temporary, The Post reported. Participants who had lingering symptoms recovered by the time they took part in the study were found to have cognitive deficits comparable to those who quickly recovered.

Eight online tasks were taken by participants to measure cognitive function, according to The Post. More than 140,000 people completed at least one of the tasks and nearly 113,000 completed all of them.

The participants were randomly selected from a cohort of more than 3 million adults to track the spread of Covid between May 1, 2020, and March 21, 2022.