The COVID Mind Study at Yale

The COVID Mind Study is dedicated toward bettering our understanding of COVID-19’s effects on the brain. Our work spans multiple disciplines - including neurology and neuroinflammation, psychiatry, neuropsychology, and vascular and systemic viral effects - to better understand neurological and psychological symptoms in people who are recovering from COVID-19. Our team is led by physician scientists with expertise in understanding the effects of viruses and other infections on the brain, and comprised of experts from many disciplines relevant to COVID-19 effects on the mind. Our goal is to improve the lives of patients who are recovering from COVID-19.

Some people who have had COVID-19 have lingering effects even after their acute illness is over, including difficulty with concentration, headaches, sadness or anxiety, or even delusions and changes in behavior. We are applying tools that we have used for many years to study the impact of viral infections in the brain to answer questions about how COVID-19 affects the mind and other neurological functions. We’ll do this by asking people who have had COVID-19 to partner with us to undergo different kinds of tests (including tests of cognition and brain scans), as well as provide blood and spinal fluid samples so that we can understand the biological basis of some of the conditions that persist after acute COVID-19. These studies will allow us to develop targeted preventative therapies and treatments to relieve these conditions. We actively seek the input of those who will use or potentially benefit from our research.