Disrupted intracortical inhibition in the prefrontal cortex relates to cognitive dysfunction in post-COVID-19 condition: A TMS-EEG study

IF 3.6 3区医学 Q1 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Clinical Neurophysiology Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-24 DOI:10.1016/j.clinph.2026.2111709

Elias P. Casula , Sabrina Dezi , Michele Maiella , Davide Ferrazzoli , Cristian Ripoli , Antonio Oliviero , Giacomo Koch , Paola Ortelli , Luca Sebastianelli , Viviana Versace

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

Dysfunction of GABA_Bergic intracortical inhibition has previously been demonstrated in the primary motor cortex of patients suffering from post-COVID19 condition (pCVD). Here, we searched for alterations in GABA_B-mediated inhibition in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a crucial area for cognition.

Methods

Sixteen pCVD patients complaining cognitive complaints underwent a combined paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) protocol of long-interval intracortical inhibition (LICI) over the left PFC. Global cognition was evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Twelve healthy volunteers (HV) matched for gender, age and education served as the control group.

Results

Patients with pCVD showed lower oscillatory activity and cognitive performance compared to HV (p < 0.05). No significant LICI effects were observable in the oscillatory activity of pCVD patients, whereas these were observable in HV. A linear relationship between individual levels of gamma (r = -0.479; p = 0.030) and beta (r = -0.478; p = 0.031) frequencies inhibition and cognitive performance was observed in pCVD patients.

Conclusions

GABA_B- receptor mediated intracortical inhibition in the PFC is disrupted in pCVD patients with cognitive complaints and inversely correlated to cognitive performance.

Significance

TMS-EEG could be used to identify early alterations of cortical oscillatory activity in prefrontal regions related to the pCVD and inducing subtle cognitive decline.

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前额皮质皮质内抑制中断与covid -19后疾病的认知功能障碍有关：一项TMS-EEG研究

目的：在covid - 19后疾病（pCVD）患者的初级运动皮层中，GABABergic皮质内抑制功能障碍已被证实。在这里，我们寻找gabab介导的前额叶皮层（PFC）抑制的改变，这是认知的关键区域。方法：对16例有认知障碍的pCVD患者进行双脉冲经颅磁刺激和左pfc长间隔皮质内抑制（LICI）脑电（TMS-EEG）联合治疗，采用蒙特利尔认知评估法评估患者的整体认知能力。12名性别、年龄、受教育程度相匹配的健康志愿者（HV）作为对照组。结果：与HV患者相比，pCVD患者的振荡活动和认知表现较低(p)。结论：GABAB受体介导的PFC皮质内抑制在pCVD患者的认知抱怨中被破坏，并与认知表现呈负相关。意义：TMS-EEG可用于识别与pCVD相关的前额叶皮层振荡活动的早期改变，并诱发微妙的认知能力下降。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Clinical Neurophysiology 医学-临床神经学

CiteScore

8.70

自引率

6.40%

发文量

932

审稿时长

59 days

期刊介绍： As of January 1999, The journal Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, and its two sections Electromyography and Motor Control and Evoked Potentials have amalgamated to become this journal - Clinical Neurophysiology. Clinical Neurophysiology is the official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, the Brazilian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, the Czech Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, the Italian Clinical Neurophysiology Society and the International Society of Intraoperative Neurophysiology.The journal is dedicated to fostering research and disseminating information on all aspects of both normal and abnormal functioning of the nervous system. The key aim of the publication is to disseminate scholarly reports on the pathophysiology underlying diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system of human patients. Clinical trials that use neurophysiological measures to document change are encouraged, as are manuscripts reporting data on integrated neuroimaging of central nervous function including, but not limited to, functional MRI, MEG, EEG, PET and other neuroimaging modalities.