BrainHygge is an interdisciplinary and informal network that bring together researchers within neuroscience. The inaugural talk of the #BrainHygge network will be given by CFIN Director Leif Østergaard on the topic of "COVID-19: How infections can affect our bodies and brains."

Abstract:

In the past year, COVID-19 has swept across continents, claiming over a million lives. First considered a respiratory disease, COVID-19 also affects other organ systems, including the brains and hearts of infected patients. The SARS CoV-2 virus affects the microcirculation, causing damage to the lining of blood vessels (endotheliitis) and microscopic blood clots (microthrombosis). The infection also triggers an immune response that releases cytokines to the bloodstream (‘cytokine storm’). The talk will use this unfortunate pandemic as an opportunity to introduce you all to CFIN's microvascular research. Thus, it will describe how COVID-19 related microvascular changes are expected to affect brain function and how cytokines and low oxygen levels can interfere with neurotransmission and mood.  

The BrainHygge Committee:

Micah G. Allen, Irene Mikkelsen, Victor Naude, Eugenio Gutierrez, and Niia Nikolova

Participation and contact

For details and to attend, please email Micah G. Allen, Associate Professor and AIAS Fellow micah@aias.au.dk.