Defining brain fog across medical conditions

Journal article : Review

'Brain fog' is commonly reported in more than a dozen chronic diseases, but what is it? We review research across conditions which has characterised brain fog and evaluate its definitions and objective correlates. Brain fog has been used to refer to a variable set of overlapping symptoms implicating cognition, fatigue, and affect. It has been defined as a distinct symptom, a syndrome, or a nonspecific term. We consider the evidence that brain fog is a transdiagnostic entity with a common phenomenology and profile of objective cognitive deficits. We discuss where these commonalities arise and argue that linguistic ambiguity, shared cognitive impairments, and noncognitive factors are more likely than shared neurobiology. We suggest how future research might apply existing tools to disambiguate the phenomena that brain fog conflates.

Authors: Denno, P; Zhao, S; Husain, M; Hampshire, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Journal: Trends in Neurosciences
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 330-348
• Publication date: 2025-02-25
• Acceptance date: 2025-01-19
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2025.01.003
• EISSN: 1878-108X
• ISSN: 0166-2236
• Pmid: 40011078
• Language: English
• Keywords: COVID-19; cognition; fatigue; signs and symptoms; chronic Illness
• Subtype: Review