Decoding Long COVID's Impact on the Brain with Igor Koralnik, MD

Decoding Long COVID's Impact on the Brain with Igor Koralnik, MD

From Breakthroughs by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

March 23, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

Igor Koralnik discusses the neurological impacts of long COVID and recent findings related to Parkinson's disease.

Our understanding of how viral infections can affect the brain has changed dramatically in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic and research into long COVID has accelerated some of this new knowledge. Igor Koralnik, MD, chief of Neuro-Infectious Diseases and Global Neurology in the Department of Neurology at Feinberg has studied the long-term neurological effects of COVID-19 and developed tools to support patient recovery. In this episode, Koralnik shares the latest research on long COVID and talks about recent findings from his lab identifying a common virus in the brains of some patients with Parkinson's disease that may influence how Parkinson's develops.

People in this episode

Guests: Igor Koralnik, MD, Igor Koralnik

Topics covered

  • long COVID
  • neurological effects
  • viral infections
  • patient recovery
  • Parkinson's disease
  • research

Keywords

  • long COVID
  • brain
  • neurology
  • viral infections
  • patient recovery
  • Parkinson's disease
  • research

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, COVID-19, Parkinson's disease

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