Covid makes people miserable by shutting down happy hormones.
Covid sufferers are likely to be miserable
Experts have discovered that coronavirus infects brain cells responsible for a person's mood, stress and movement, stopping them from functioning correctly.
Lab experiments have shown that COVID-19 damages production of the 'happy hormone' dopamine to the extent that cells are unable to grow or divide.
Dopamine is also responsible for sleep, concentration and memory, explaining why Covid causes symptoms such as brain fog and the blues.
Dr. Shuibing Chen, senior author of the study for Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, said: "This project started out to investigate how various types of cells in different organs respond to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We tested lung cells, heart cells, pancreatic beta cells, but the senescence pathway is only activated in dopamine neurons.
"This was a completely unexpected result."