Review of: "Can COVID-19 alter your personality? Here's what brain research shows."

Isabel Haller

Mr. Ippolito

Core Chem 9

January 28th, 2022

As someone who is very interested in psychology and neurology, when I found the article, “Can COVID-19 alter your personality? Here’s what brain research shows.”, by Sharon Guynup, I was immediately excited to hear what the author had to say. We have been struggling with the COVID-19 virus for two years now, and with the Omicron variant, people are getting infected left and right. As someone who has contracted the virus, it never occurred to me that there could be psychological side effects to it, so this article was incredibly informative and helpful to better my understanding of COVID-19. The writing begins with the story of Lorna Breen, a 49-year-old doctor who had no history of mental illness, then, after contracting the virus, was confused and “nearly catatonic” (Guynup). She was checked into a psychiatric ward, and then shortly after being released, took her own life. Next, the article gives some background information on other diseases that alter our brains and personalities, such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s. Towards the end of the article, this information is connected to the COVID-19 virus and goes very in-depth as to exactly how the brain’s functions are affected when the immune system goes into overdrive. Finally, to finish up, the author discusses ways that readers can try to prevent COVID-19 from altering their brain and personality, naming specific drugs that work to help stop the immune system from overreacting at signs of illness. 

It’s interesting to consider that even with all of the research that is out there about the COVID-19 disease and how long we have all had to adjust to living with the virus among us, people are still uninformed. It is extremely important for articles such as this one to keep educating the public about COVID-19. If readers can learn about prevention methods for COVID-19’s effect on the brain, we can all be safer and healthier.

Guynup’s writing was spectacular and very informative, making it perfect for readers who aren’t familiar with how the brain works. One thing that I especially enjoyed about this article was how much background context the author provided for understanding the impact of other diseases that have been researched more than COVID-19. As someone who was not educated on the topic of brain-altering diseases, this additional information was really helpful and contributed to my overall understanding of the article. That being said, there were times when readers could easily get lost in the advanced scientific explanations for brain functions, and have to read an entire section more than once. For example, “Other researchers using brain imaging data from the U.K. recently discovered evidence of tissue damage, a thinner cortex, and loss of gray matter in people who had tested positive for the virus.” (Guynup) The author could have been more successful in getting the point across to readers if she had added in why these things were significant. How are “tissue damage, thinner cortex, and loss of gray matter” important to the subject? An explanation here could help readers understand the effect that this virus can have on the brain. All in all, this was a phenomenal article to read thanks to its background information and great content. 

Guynup, Sharon. “Can Covid-19 Alter Your Personality? Here's What Brain Research Shows.” Science, National Geographic, 29 Dec. 2021, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/can-covid-19-alter-your-personality-heres-what-brain-research-shows.