Searching for the complete understanding of Long COVID is like hunting for the legendary gold buried in the deep jungle. The journey twists and turns as we try to unravel why so many struggle for years after COVID, while some others bounce back the following week. This study claims that when symptoms persist over a year, brain inflammation does not play a major role after the early months.
With millions suffering from lingering effects of COVID acute infection, medical researchers all over the world keep searching for clues. A major part of the challenge is that COVID’s fingers poke into so many nooks and crannies of our body’s functioning that there is clearly not one single answer that explains every single patient. One of the many theories supported by prior studies was that ongoing brain inflammation played a major role in patients with Long COVID (also know as Long Hauler COVID).
By using functional MRIs that measure not only brain structure, but activity of nerve cells in different brain regions and inflammation, these researchers found that inflammation in long COVID patients over 16 months was similar to those in the control group (who weren’t dealing with Long COVID). Prior to 16 months, the Long COVID patients did show higher inflammation rates, but something happened over time to lower the inflammation.
However, they also found that Long COVID patients with higher reports of anxiety and depression along with lower quality of life showed higher cell activity in the brain amygdala and hippocampus. The amygdala area of our brains plays a role in fear and fear memory while the hippocampus is critical for memory in general.
With this in mind (no pun intended), researchers can dig further into why some brains recover and some maladapt when dealing with a COVID infection. In the meantime, early therapies to lower inflammation will remain on our list of remedies for our Long COVID patients as well as vagal/limbic therapies to reset the autonomic nervous system (fight/flight response balance).
In helping our patients restore healthier, more abundant lives after Long COVID diagnoses, we will also continue to focus on all the other contributing factors which predisposed them to COVID’s initial acute infection and to subsequent Long COVID problems. These factors include toxins already weakening their immune system or adding to their inflammatory body burden. We also address reactivated infections like EBV and CMV or gut alterations like dysbiosis and yeast overgrowth, which can all contribute to COVID risk. By addressing each of the factors identified, our patients see futures free of Long COVID symptoms.
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Original Article:
Joel Tuomaala, Maija Saraste, Emma Smith, Matilda Kuusi, Elisabet Westerberg, Eveliina Honkonen, Rahim Kargar, Sini Laaksonen, Jussi Lehto, Amelie Luoma, Markus Matilainen, Olavi Misin, Janne Atosuo, Mari Kanerva, Helena Liira, Sini Laakso, Tatiana Posharina, Virva Saunavaara, Saara Wahlroos, Johan Rajander, Laura Airas. Association between post-COVID-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms and persistent glial activation in the limbic system: a TSPO PET study. Journal of Neurology, 2026; 273 (5) DOI: 10.1007/s00415-026-13842-w
Thanks to Science Daily:
University of Turku. “Scientists thought brain inflammation was driving long COVID but the scans told a different story.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 May 2026. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260527023206.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
Dr. Eric Potter graduated from Vanderbilt Medical School and then went on to specialize in internal medicine (adult) and pediatric care, spending significant time and effort in growing his medical understanding while caring for patients from all walks of life.
