Long COVID Atlas
Text Theme
Note

Plain-language first, with specialist detail below. For understanding, not medical advice.

Long COVID Atlas › Glossary › Neuroinflammation

Neurology

Neuroinflammation

https://longcovidatlas.org/glossary/neuroinflammation

In plain language

What it is

Inflammation inside the brain itself, driven by the brain's own immune cells.

Why it matters

It is a leading explanation for brain fog and other neurological symptoms in long COVID.

Think of it like

The brain's smoke alarm stuck on, irritating the rooms around it.

Why thinking feels slow bloodstream: lasting inflammation, clotting signals blood-brain barrier, now leaky microglia (brain immune cells) switch on brain fog: slow recall, poor focus,word-finding trouble
Brain fog is not laziness or anxiety. Lasting inflammation in the blood, together with a brain barrier that has become leaky, lets inflammatory signals reach brain tissue and switches on the brain's own immune cells, the microglia. That low-grade neuroinflammation is what slows recall, focus, and word-finding.

For specialists

Formal definition

Activation of microglia and other glial cells with release of inflammatory mediators in the central nervous system.

Mechanism

Systemic inflammation and a leaky blood-brain barrier can switch on microglia, impairing neural function.

Sources

Related terms

Blood-brain barrierAutoantibody