ON CAMPUS
I DISCOVERY AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Stress Effect PRELIMINARY RESEARCH BY HMS scientists at Massa-
chusetts General Hospital indicates that societal and lifestyle disruptions in people uninfected by SARS-CoV-2 may precipitate brain inflammation. When researchers compared brain and blood levels of various inflammatory markers in samples from 57 healthy participants taken before stay-at-home restrictions to those taken from 15 participants after restrictions, they found higher levels of the markers in post-restrictions participants. Participants who reported greater symptoms related to mood and mental and physical fatigue had higher brain levels of one of the markers. The levels of the marker correlated with the expression of several genes involved in immune function. Brusaferri L et al., Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, February 2022
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