James Throt MBBS, MD, PhD, FRCPath Profile picture
Jul 17 24 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Let’s talk about COVID, brain damage & society.

Specifically, what happens when a neurotropic virus repeatedly infects the population, targeting the frontal lobe & almost nobody talks about the consequences?

This thread is for the skeptics.

I’m a neurologist, stay with me 🧵 Image
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@Daithiunjabbed Studies that show SARS-CoV-2 causes disease:

nature.com/articles/s4159…

nature.com/articles/s4158…
@Daithiunjabbed Want a one-paper silver bullet that isolates, characterises & causes disease in one neat package?

That’s not how real science works. But you wouldn’t know this, being intellectually challenged.

It happens cumulatively, across multiple rigorous studies, all of which now exist.
@JN1171 The problem?

Our data systems weren’t built to track a slow, mass cognitive shift.

But the behavioural signal is there; clear, global, and exactly what you’d expect from repeat frontal lobe injury.
@SnoopDougieDoig What stands out is the sudden acceleration in things like youth violence, attention deficits, and empathy decline after the mass global spread of brain damaging SARS-CoV-2.

If phones were the root cause, we’d expect a more gradual, linear trend. Not this sharp, post 2020 curve.
@JjudgeThe77524 @JN1171 Image
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@JjudgeThe77524 @JN1171 Image
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@Kristy718028917 High spike antibody levels in the vaccinated = strong immune response.

That’s not the same as viral replication, tissue damage, or CNS invasion like actual covid causes.

Conflating immune signal with pathology is how misinformation spreads.
@cfd4441 @EmilyPetro22 If by ‘pushing that trash’ you mean correcting misinformation with evidence, then yes, I’m guilty. Sue me.

Sorry that facts feel like a personal attack.

Maybe sit with that.
@Kristy718028917 The spike from the vax is transient, localised, and degraded quickly.

SARS-CoV-2 infection, not vaccination, is strongly linked to lasting neurological damage, including direct invasion, inflammation, microclots & hypoxia.
@Kristy718028917 Comparing vaccine effects to viral brain injury ignores critical differences in mechanism & severity.

Spreading false equivalences like this fuels misinformation and fear rather than science-based understanding.
@rusty_ricochet The virus causes documented, widespread neurological harm.

The vaccine does not replicate, does not contain nucleocapsid protein, and has nowhere near the same pathological footprint.

You’re blaming the seatbelt for the car crash. And it’s f*cking tiresome.
@EvalEvan66 And as for “it’s not relevant in 2025”, the virus is still spreading, still crossing the blood-brain barrier, and still triggering neuroinflammation.

What’s changed is the willful ignorance.
@kristy_warrior @Kristy718028917 Most biodistribution data show spike production is transient, mostly in muscle & lymph nodes, and cleared fast.

Unlike the live virus, which replicates, crosses the BBB, causes inflammation, cell damage, and brain shrinkage.

This is boring now. Blocked.
@AJonSchultz @GVDBossche @VigilantFox The evidence overwhelmingly supports mRNA vaccine safety and efficacy.

Healthy skepticism is good, but it has to be based on data, not vibes, nor on farming for engagement.
Frontal lobe dysfunction shatters critical thinking.

That’s how you go from understanding public health to believing vaccines are more dangerous than the virus, every expert is lying, & your YouTube search counts as research.

Thank you for providing very convincing case studies
@AnnieMcnei41751 Persistent anosmia has been linked to increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s & Alzheimer’s.

Brain imaging shows structural loss in areas tied to memory, emotion, and executive function.
Credit for the olfactory cortex image goes to @DaniBeckman

Thank you for your work and for flagging the omission, a terrible oversight on my part.

My apologies.
@jamesrcole If you can’t grasp basic scientific concepts like probability versus determinism, maybe stop wasting time debating and educate yourself first.

This isn’t difficult, it’s fundamental to critical thinking.
@TepperHerb2025 In contrast, SARS-CoV-2 infection has extensive evidence of brain injury: grey matter loss (Douaud et al., 2022), neuroinvasion (Matschke et al., 2020), and long term neuropsychiatric effects.

Vaccination reduces these risks, your talking points ignore this entirely.
@ClareQ12 It’s plausible the virus had neuroinvasive properties, contributing to long term brain effects in survivors & possibly influencing post pandemic societal and health impacts.
@GG2763048772993 Long term, difficulties in forming healthy relationships, increased susceptibility to misinformation, challenges in educational achievement & greater risk for behavioral disorders. Early FL disruption may also predispose to mental health issues and diminished societal cohesion.
@NeurologistMom @DaniBeckman Those thousands of images are SARS-CoV-2 related. And when searching for appropriate ones for threads and Twitter posts, I’m clearly sometimes not selecting the correct screenshot/images. That’s my fault.

As I say, I’ve apologised.

Surely you saw I’ve since credited?

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More from @JamesThrot

Nov 16
There’s a pervasive misunderstanding in conversations about COVID’s neurological impact.

Many people assume that saying “frontal lobe damage reduces empathy” means everyone who’s had COVID instantly becomes amoral & unethical.

That’s reductionism at its finest. 🧵
Frontal lobe impairment is not an on/off switch.

Someone with naturally high empathy can still appear extremely empathetic, even if their capacity has measurably declined.

It’s a shift, not a reset.
At the population level, repeated SARS-CoV-2 infections subtly alter impulse control, moral reasoning and susceptibility to manipulation.

This doesn’t mean every individual loses morality, but society-wide trends can shift in meaningful ways.
Read 6 tweets
Nov 15
Let’s talk about one of the most dangerous and under-discussed consequences of SARS-CoV-2: neurological damage. More specifically, frontal lobe dysfunction.

This is being deliberately downplayed, in part due to a misguided weaponisation of “ableism” discourse. That’s a problem🧵
Here’s the truth.

SARS-CoV-2 is a neurotropic virus. It can invade the central nervous system, either directly or through inflammatory damage.

It’s been detected in brain tissue, and it can cause lasting neurological impairment.

This is not speculative.
The frontal lobe governs executive function, impulse control, empathy, moral reasoning & inhibition. Damage here can lead to:

- Aggression
- Impulsivity
- Gullibility
- Bigotry
- Loss of social inhibition
- Apathy
- Antisocial traits

This is basic neurobiology, not ableism.
Read 12 tweets
Nov 11
Calling it “ableist” to discuss SARS-CoV-2 related frontal lobe dysfunction misunderstands both neurology & ethics

Frontal lobe injury can cause apathy/disinhibition/moral blindness & aggression since these are the functions the region governs

This is neurobiology, not stigma🧵
Autism/ADHD/PTSD etc are forms of innate neurodiversity. Stable, lifelong neurotypes

Frontal lobe injury from COVID is acquired neurodegeneration. A progressive erosion of neural circuits governing empathy, foresight, inhibition & moral reasoning

Conflating the two erases both.
Frontal lobe damage, whether from traumatic brain injury, dementia or viral neuroinflammation, is well known to alter personality & behaviour.

It’s not a moral judgement. It’s anatomy.

The prefrontal cortex is literally the “brake” that tempers impulse, aggression & egocentrism
Read 14 tweets
Nov 10
Cognitive decline from repeated SARS-CoV-2 infections & the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT = a perfect storm.

Here’s why this could reshape society in ways most people aren’t ready for 🧵
Repeat infection = cumulative damage to the brain. Particularly the frontal lobe, which governs empathy, foresight, impulse control & reality testing.

That’s the part of the brain that lets you question, reflect & doubt. Without it, a person becomes gullible, rigid & manipulable
Now layer on the rise of AI chatbots

People increasingly use them to write, think, argue, even feel for them.
And these models are designed to appease, to mirror your biases, validate your delusions and give you the emotional texture of understanding without any of its substance
Read 9 tweets
Nov 7
We have not yet seen the worst of the neurological effects of Covid.

End.
What’s coming:

- Frontal lobe degeneration
- Personality & empathy decline
- Early-onset dementia
- Parkinson’s
- Alzheimer’s
- Motor neurone disease
- Chronic fatigue & dysautonomia

All accelerated by reinfection.

Reinfections that are happening 1-2x annually.
SARS-CoV-2 causes:

🧠 Neuroinflammation

🧬 Microglial activation

🩸 Microclots and vascular injury

⚡️ Disrupted dopamine and serotonin pathways

All of which are established pathways to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Frontotemporal Dementia.
Read 7 tweets
Oct 28
Why are Religion & Fascism rising? Two faces of the same psychological/neural process.

They’re far more intertwined, and dangerous, than you might have ever believed.

SARS-CoV-2-induced frontal lobe (brain) damage makes both more likely.

A neurologist’s explanation 🧵

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Religion and authoritarianism share the same psychological architecture: submission to authority, suppression of doubt, and moral outsourcing.

Both dissolve individual responsibility and reward conformity over critical thought.

And both are on the rise, simultaneously.

2/
It’s no coincidence that the far right movement in the US is also deeply religious.

MAGA’s fusion of politics and evangelicalism isn’t accidental, it’s the merging of two cultic structures that thrive on fear, obedience and moral absolutism.

3/
Read 17 tweets

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