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Cognition - mental performance
People perceive their surroundings through the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin are sensory organs through which environmental stimuli are received and transmitted to the brain. Information processing begins.
Human information processing can be simplified into three steps:
- reception (perception)
- processing (understanding and interpretation)
- reaction (storage in the brain or action)
In principle, the short-term or working memory can only store around four blocks of information in parallel. This limits the amount of information that can be processed at the same time [1]. Due to these limited attention resources, people find it difficult to pursue several tasks or goals at the same time. This can lead to errors if the cognitive demands exceed capacity.
Cognitive problems — an unpleasant companion of Long Covid
Cognitive problems are a frequent companion of various chronic illnesses. Long Covid patients report concentration deficits and forgetfulness in particular:
- 78% of Long Covid patients report difficulty concentrating and a shortened attention span [2]
- 68% of Long Covid patients describe general forgetfulness and limitations in verbal memory [2]. Verbal memory or working memory describes the cognitive ability to briefly store and process verbal information.
Supplementary studies were undertaken to corroborate the subjective data with objective data. Researchers found that around 44-53% of Long Covid patients suffer from cognitive problems [3-7].
Short-term memory and attention were most frequently impaired.
Patients with Long Covid also show a strong cognitive slowdown in simple reaction time and sustained attention tasks compared to recovered corona patients who did not suffer from Long Covid [7].
The cognitive areas that were most affected in all studies were
- memory (verbal memory, associative memory),
- executive functions (working memory, cognitive flexibility, processing speed) and
- attention.
Cognitive impairments often affect Long Covid patients. In particular, concentration, attention and memory performance may be impaired compared to before the coronavirus infection.
Exercises for cognitive impairment
If cognitive abilities are impaired, it is advisable to create a distraction-free environment and train mental performance.
Reduce distraction
Try to avoid unnecessary distractions such as loud noises. Use earplugs if necessary. Create a quiet and tidy workplace. This will prevent you from being distracted during an activity.
Plan activities and breaks
It can be harder to concentrate when you are exhausted or tired.
Therefore, try to schedule important tasks for the time of day when you have the most energy. For example, if you are fit in the morning and get tired during the day, schedule your most important tasks in the morning.
Take breaks in between to recover - and consciously plan these into your day too.
Time planning
Make a schedule for the next day or week. To do this, you can divide larger tasks into smaller steps and then plan the individual steps in advance. What do you need to do? How long will it take you? Which steps are the most important? When can you take breaks?
Realistic goals
If you set yourself specific and realistic goals, you will be more motivated to work on your tasks. For example, set yourself the goal of reading 5 pages of a book or writing a paragraph.
Incentives & rewards
It is important to reward yourself when you have achieved something. Be it a cup of coffee, a walk or your favourite meal. This also brings some variety into your everyday life.
Cognitive exercises
Carry out regular cognitive exercises to train your cognition.
Use puzzles, word and number games, and/or memory exercises.
Start with easy exercises and increase step by step when you have achieved success. It is important not to overstrain yourself. Failing an exercise or practising at the same level for several days can be frustrating, but is often unavoidable.
