Brain fog in postural tachycardia syndrome: An objective cerebral blood flow and neurocognitive analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear whether brain fog is related to impaired cerebral blood flow (CBF) in postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) patients. METHODS: We assessed CBF in the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) using transcranial Doppler with visual stimuli in 11 POTS and 8 healthy subjects in the seated position, followed by neurocognitive testing. RESULTS: CBF parameters were similar between the two groups. POTS patients demonstrated significantly longer latency in delayed match to sample response time and greater errors in attention switching task. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired short-term memory and alertness may underlie the symptom of brain fog in POTS patients, despite normal CBF.