The study by Jaywant et al. [1] in this issue is an early characterization of the potential for longer-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on brain function. This manuscript reports on an observational (cross-sectional) study investigating the relationship between COVID infection/hospitalization and cognitive outcomes in 57 hospitalized participants recovering from COVID-19 in rehabilitation units in New York City. The characteristics of the sample (75% male; 61% non-Caucasian, mean age = 64 years old) are consistent with the profile of greatest vulnerability to developing a severe case of COVID-19. Most patients required intubation for medical ventilation (77%) and suffered from hypoxia (88%) prior to neuropsychological assessment in the rehab setting.

Among this population, the authors report a high prevalence of cognitive impairment (>80% of the sample), primarily in the domains of attention and executive function. Most patients had a mild/borderline impairment (<1 SD below the normative sample data) and there were no significant associations between cognitive performance and psychiatric symptoms, duration of intubation, or time since extubation. As this was a sample of convenience, where data were derived retrospectively from the clinical chart, a thorough characterization of cognition prior to hospitalization was not available. This is a limitation, as results from a recent study conducted in the UK showed that lower cognitive ability was actually a key risk factor associated with the likelihood of COVID-19 infection/hospitalization [2].

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