The Cognitive Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Members of the General Population in Italy: A Preliminary Study on Executive Inhibition

Abstract

The pandemic period which has characterized the last two years has been associated with increasingly worsening psychological conditions, and previous studies have reported severe levels of anxiety, mood disorder, and psychopathological alteration in the general population. In particular, worldwide populations have appeared to present post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Surprisingly, no studies have evaluated the effect of COVID-related PTSS on cognitive functioning. This study focused on the association between high levels of PTSS related to COVID-19 and alterations in executive functioning by considering executive inhibitions in populations not infected by the virus. Ninety respondents from the Italian population participated in the study. A higher percentage of PTSS was reported. Moreover, respondents with high post-traumatic symptomatology presented deficits in the inhibition of preponderant responses, demonstrating an executive deficit which could be expressed by a difficulty in controlling goal-directed actions. This was underlined by worse performances in elaborating incongruent stimuli in the Stroop task and no-go stimuli in the Go/No-Go task. This report presents preliminary findings underlining the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on cognitive functions. The results confirmed a persistently higher post-traumatic symptomatology related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Italian population and highlighted an association with cognitive inhibition impairment.

The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown Measures and COVID-19 Infection on Cognitive Functions: A Review in Healthy and Neurological Populations

“…Thus, it was expected that it would immediately impact the population as a whole with severe psychological and cognitive implications. Indeed, our findings are in line with previous literature on COVID-19 which report the presence of cognitive decline in the short [ 20 , 42 , 53 ], medium [ 49 , 52 , 61 ], and long-term periods [ 50 , 92 ].…”

“…Only two studies were performed on healthy people by using standardized tests. The study by Pisano et al [ 20 ], performed in the first four months of the lockdown measures (short period), reported a worsening in working and prospective memory performance in a group of 150 college students; while in the medium period, the only study by Favieri et al [ 52 ] showed impaired executive functioning and motor inhibition in a sample of 90 college students.…”

“…In terms of the two studies on healthy subjects, Pisano et al [ 20 ] showed a decline in working and prospective memory, measured with the PASAT [ 109 ] and the MIST [ 110 ] test, in a sample of young university students, while Favieri et al, 2022 [ 52 ] reported a decline in executive functions, measured with the STROOP test [ 111 ], and in motor inhibition in a Go/No-Go task, in ninety college students.…”

The impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the menstrual cycle and mental health of young Georgian women

“…The average age of the participants was 22.5±2.5 years (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). The average Body Mass Index (BMI) is 21.5±5.5.…”

Mild Cognitive Disorder in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 67,000 Primary Care Post-COVID Patients

“…Secondly, the impact of COVID-19 on mild cognitive disorder (MCD) has rarely been studied, unlike that of other respiratory diseases [ 11, 12 ]. Cognitive impairment may be related to both biological processes [ 13–15 ] and social conditions, specific limiting quarantine conditions or stressful life circumstances that may occur under lockdown conditions [ 16 ]. Many studies were conducted in hospitals, specialized COVID wards and research institutions, while research rarely focused on the primary care perspective [ 17 ].…”