# Identifying the Long-Term Neurological Effects of COVID-19 Using 7 Tesla Multi-Modal MRI

> **NIH NIH R21** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2021 · $465,438

## Abstract

Project Summary
 A growing body of evidence indicates that COVID-19 has neurological manifestations, many of which may
persist post-infection. 36% to 67% of COVID-19 patients develop neurological symptoms, including anosmia,
headache, and altered consciousness, and many present with severe acute neurological manifestations,
including stroke. In one study, 44% of COVID-19 patients with neurological manifestations in an ICU who
received an MRI had abnormal imaging findings. Given the number of individuals who have been infected with
COVID-19 since early 2020, persistent neurological effects are a critical and growing public health problem.
Linking the neurological effects of COVID-19 that persist in recovered patients to specific MRI-visible
abnormalities remains a critical unmet need. This information will be extremely valuable in understanding how
to best treat, predict, and ultimately prevent long-term neurological effects of COVID-19. 7 Tesla (7T) MRI
enables us to produce images with exquisite resolution and contrast, and has revealed subtle structural and
functional abnormalities in a range of neurological diseases and disorders, particularly when the abnormalities
are below the threshold of detectability of conventional MRI. Highly sensitive, multi-modal neuroimaging
techniques could provide new insight into the mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 indirectly or directly affects
the brain, leading to more informed management of neurological manifestations of COVID-19 in both the acute
and chronic phases. Our central hypothesis is that a retrospective analysis of COVID-19 cases with a brain
MRI, followed by a prospective study using advanced 7T multimodal MRI of the brain and brainstem, will
provide extensive and detailed insight into the neurological manifestations of COVID-19, allowing for improved
mechanistic understanding of the chronic neurological effects of the disease and improved treatment of
neurological sequelae. In this study, we will apply a 7T structural, vascular, functional, and diffusion MRI
protocol to 55 patients who were previously hospitalized for COVID-19, experienced neurological symptoms
during their hospitalization, and underwent clinical MRI at that time as a result of these symptoms. Scanning
will be performed 6-months post-recovery. 55 age- and gender-matched healthy controls will be studied using
an identical 7T protocol. The specific aims of our study are to (1) perform a retrospective analysis of 200 brain
MRIs performed on COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms and tabulate the frequencies of specific
neuroimaging findings; (2) perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of 7T structural, vascular, and diffusion
images in 55 recovered COVID-19 patients and compare MRI-based metrics to healthy controls; and (3)
perform connectomic network analysis on functional and diffusion images to identify network differences in
patients versus controls. We expect that frequencies of neurological abnormalities and quantita...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10235795
- **Project number:** 1R21NS122389-01
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** Priti Balchandani
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $465,438
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2023-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10235795

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10235795, Identifying the Long-Term Neurological Effects of COVID-19 Using 7 Tesla Multi-Modal MRI (1R21NS122389-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10235795. Licensed CC0.

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