Day, Heather, Yellman, Brayden, Hammer, Sarah et al. · Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023 · DOI
This study examined why people with ME/CFS and long COVID experience 'brain fog' and memory problems. Researchers tested how well people could think and remember before and after standing up quickly (which can make blood pressure drop). They found that people with these illnesses had more trouble thinking clearly after the standing test, and this was linked to unusual changes in their heart rate and blood pressure. The findings suggest that problems with blood flow to the brain during physical stress may be contributing to cognitive difficulties.
Cognitive impairment is one of the most debilitating symptoms for ME/CFS and long COVID patients, yet its underlying mechanism has been poorly understood. This study provides mechanistic evidence linking abnormal blood pressure and heart rate responses to cognitive dysfunction, potentially opening new therapeutic targets such as hemodynamic management strategies. Understanding that early intervention might prevent long-term cognitive changes has important implications for clinical practice and disease management.
This observational study cannot establish definitive causation—only association between hemodynamic changes and cognitive impairment. The study does not prove that correcting hemodynamic abnormalities will improve cognitive function, nor does it explain why hemodynamic changes stop correlating with cognitive impairment in patients with >10 years disease duration. Small sample sizes and lack of randomized intervention prevent generalization to all ME/CFS populations.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Day, Heather, Yellman, Brayden, Hammer, Sarah, Rond, Candace, Bell, Jennifer, Abbaszadeh, Saeed, et al. (2023). Cognitive impairment in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 and short duration myalgic encephalomyelitis patients is mediated by orthostatic hemodynamic changes.. Frontiers in neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1203514
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-day-2023-cognitive-impairment,
author = {Day, Heather and Yellman, Brayden and Hammer, Sarah and Rond, Candace and Bell, Jennifer and Abbaszadeh, Saeed and Stoddard, Greg and Unutmaz, Derya and Bateman, Lucinda and Vernon, Suzanne D},
title = {Cognitive impairment in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 and short duration myalgic encephalomyelitis patients is mediated by orthostatic hemodynamic changes.},
journal = {Frontiers in neuroscience},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.3389/fnins.2023.1203514},
note = {PubMed: 37434760},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/day-2023-cognitive-impairment},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/day-2023-cognitive-impairment
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