GeroScience - Call for Papers

Brain and Vascular Injury in COVID-19: Implications for Cognitive Dysfunction and the Post-COVID-19 Syndrome

Guest Editors Drs. Ayush Batra and Eric Liotta along with the Editor-in-Chief Dr. Zoltan Ungvari, and the editorial team of GeroScience (Journal of the American Aging Association) invite submission of original research, translational, clinical hypothesis and review articles focused on cognitive and functional implications of brain injury in COVID-19, with special emphasis on cerebral microvascular injury.  Mounting evidence of brain injury, and cerebral microvascular injury in particular, as a sequelae of COVID-19 have raised concerns regarding the long-term impact on cerebrovascular function, cognitive function, and subsequent aging implications in survivors.  Increasing reports of patients presenting with a constellation of symptoms including fatigue, difficulty concentrating, attentional deficits and sleep disturbance have now been labeled “long COVID-19” or post-COVID-19 syndrome.  Mechanistic understandings regarding the pathophysiology of brain injury, including cerebral microvascular injury, in COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 syndrome remain uncertain, and little work has been done to evaluate both the short and long-term impact on cognitive function and the quality-of-life implications on healthy aging. Ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke have been reported with varying frequency in patients with COVID-19, and contribute to mechanisms of encephalopathy and neurologic disability that have implications for aging.  Similarly, patients with COVID-19 have reported evidence of subjective cognitive dysfunction, termed “brain fog”, and report persistent neurologic dysfunction beyond their initial illness. Given the massive burden of COVID-19, and major impacts on functional status and productivity, an urgent emphasis on better understanding of this disease is needed. 

This call-for-papers is aimed at providing a platform for the rapid dissemination of critical novel ideas related to mechanisms of brain and cerebral microvascular injury in COVID-19, which have both immediate and long-term implications on cognitive function and health-related quality-of-life. We welcome manuscripts focusing on clinical models of brain and microvascular injury in COVID-19, role of advanced neurodiagnostics, markers of blood-brain-barrier disruption, autoregulatory dysfunction, neurovascular inflammation, and cerebrovascular regulation, targeting the role of the endothelium and microglia in this disease.   Additionally, human clinical, biomarker, and imaging studies exploring these mechanisms and relationships to encephalopathy, post-COVID-19 syndrome and broadly cognitive dysfunction and aging are welcome.  Manuscripts exploring the causal role of cerebral microvascular injury (both thromboembolism and microhemorrhage) as they pertain to markers of cognitive performance, markers of quality of life, and functional outcomes are of particular interest.  Reviews of current literature emphasizing the cognitive impact of microvascular injury in COVID-19 will also be considered. Additionally, authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts focusing on potential translational and clinical hypotheses and studies in relation to mitigating long-term cognitive injury during COVID-19.  

All manuscripts should be submitted online here: https://www.editorialmanager.com/jaaa/default.aspx (this opens in a new tab)

Please indicate during the submission process by checking the relevant box that the manuscript is submitted in response to this Call for Papers. Manuscripts will undergo normal peer review as they are received. Manuscripts will be published online as they are accepted. Articles published from this Call for Papers will be highlighted with a special “Call for Papers” banner on the article PDF, as well as included in the "Brain and Vascular Injury in COVID-19” online article collection at time of publication. Submission of cover image ideas is encouraged. The submission of manuscripts in response to this Call for Papers is continuous. If you have any question please contact Dr. Ayush Batra (Ayush.Batra@northwestern.edu) or Dr. Eric Liotta (Eric.Liotta@northwestern.edu) via email.