Coronavirus does not infect the brain but still inflicts damage, study finds

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, does not infect brain cells but can inflict significant neurological damage, according to a new autopsy study. SARS-CoV-2 likely does not directly infect the brain but can still inflict significant neurological damage, according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "There's been considerable debate about whether this virus infects the brain, but we were unable to find any signs of virus inside brain cells of more than 40 COVID-19 patients," says James E. Goldman, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and a leading author of the study. The study, published in the journal Brain, is the largest and most detailed COVID-19 brain autopsy report published to date, suggests that the neurological changes often seen in these patients may result from inflammation triggered by the virus in other parts of the body or in the brain's blood vessels.