A 76-patient pilot study published in Brain Stimulation found that four weeks of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex TMS produced clinically meaningful improvements in attention and processing speed in patients with persistent post-COVID cognitive symptoms — colloquially "long COVID brain fog."
Patients were enrolled at least six months after acute COVID-19 infection and met standardized criteria for post-COVID condition with prominent cognitive complaints. Mean improvement on standardized cognitive testing was approximately 0.7 standard deviations, with sustained effects at 12 weeks in roughly half of responders.
The study was open-label and uncontrolled. The authors emphasize that placebo and natural recovery effects cannot be ruled out, and that a randomized sham-controlled trial is needed before clinical conclusions can be drawn. NIH funding for such a trial has been awarded and enrollment is expected to begin in late 2025.
Long COVID affects an estimated 5-10% of people who contract COVID-19 and remains a significant public health challenge with limited evidence-based treatments. TMS is one of several neuromodulation approaches being investigated.
Source
Reporting based on coverage from Brain Stimulation. This article is editorial summary intended for general information; it is not medical advice.