Summary:
The intersection of infectious diseases and cognitive deficits is an growing area of research with significant clinical implications. Numerous infections, including COVID-19, have been associated with an elevated risk of cognitive deficits and dementia, while certain vaccines—most notably the recombinant shingles vaccine—have been linked to reduced risks. This talk will explore these relationships through findings from retrospective cohort studies, natural experiments leveraging large-scale electronic health records, and prospective cohort studies. The discussion will focus on the associations between SARS-CoV-2 infections and cognitive impairment, as well as the protective cognitive effects observed with vaccines against shingles and RSV. Mechanistic insights will be highlighted.

Brief bio:
Max Taquet is a Clinical Lecturer in psychiatry at the university of Oxford. His research focusses on leveraging large-scale, multimodal datasets to better understand neuropsychiatric disorders and their intricate connections with physical health conditions. Before studying medicine in Oxford, he completed his PhD in Engineering and was a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School where he developed novel imaging techniques to map the brain microstructure.