Relationships of Psychological and EEG Parameters in Depressive Patients Recovered from COVID-19

Abstract

In order to clarify the neurophysiological mechanisms of psychological deterioration after coronavirus infection in 54 young female patients with depression who had previously undergone COVID-19, the relationships of neurophysiological (EEG) and psychological (according to the SCL-90-R inventory) parameters have been analyzed. The index values of some scales of the SCL-90-R questionnaire, reflecting the severity of symptoms associated with a weakening of control of activity and with increased excitability in the emotional sphere, significant positive correlations were found with the spectral power values of the EEG frequency sub-bands, indicating a reduced functional state of the frontal cortex, as well as increased activation of stem and limbic structures of the brain. The structure of correlations between psychological parameters and EEG spectral parameters in depressive patients who underwent COVID-19 indicates that psychological discomfort that persists after the disease (long covid) is associated with a decrease in the functional state of the frontal areas of the cortex, as well as with the “disinhibition” of the stem and limbic structures of the brain, possibly due to the weakening of the descending inhibitory influences from the frontal cortex.