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James Throt MBBS, MD, PhD, FRCPath Profile picture
James Throt MBBS, MD, PhD, FRCPath
@JamesThrot
Consultant Neuropathologist, UK. I dissect brains for a living. Always backed by science. Using an alias.
21 subscribers
Nov 24 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Oh they know.

The reason any utter of the word “COVID” is met with awkward silence, abrupt subject changes, or mockery is no coincidence.

That’s what denial looks like when the stakes are too high for people to admit what they already sense.

You’re letting them off too easily. Universal internet access & AI at everyone’s fingertips in year 6/7 of COVID. Yet we’re still pretending the public is merely “uninformed”?

This isn’t a knowledge gap, it’s deliberate avoidance, a psychological defence to shield people from the consequences of their own choices.
Nov 16 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
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.
Nov 15 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
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.
Nov 11 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
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.
Nov 10 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
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
Nov 7 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
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.
Oct 28 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
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 🧵

1/17 Image
Image 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/
Oct 21 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
SARS-CoV-2 brain damage is real, happening with every infection.

Many of you are on infection number 6+, asymptomatic cases count.

It damages the region (frontal lobe) that governs empathy, compassion & the internal brake that stops us from saying or doing inappropriate things. Which is why you now see it spilling into public life, a White House Press Secretary thinking “your mom” is an appropriate response to a journalist.

Leaders across the world saying things once unthinkable, blurting out cruelty, absurdity, and arrogance in equal measure.
Oct 8 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Since I’m a neuropathologist, I’ll put my two cents into this MND discussion.

SARS-CoV-2 isn’t just a respiratory virus. Emerging evidence shows it can infect human motor neurons. Could this link to motor neuron disease (MND)?

Let’s break down the neuropathology. 🧵 Direct infection of motor neurons:

SARS-CoV-2 enters via ACE2, NRP1, CD147 receptors and can replicate inside neurons.

These long, metabolically demanding cells are highly vulnerable to injury.
Oct 7 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
All the “there’s no evidence SARS-CoV-2 causes brain damage” takes I’ve seen are weak, unscientific, and often just opinion masquerading as fact.

Let’s break this down with actual facts, rather than mere conjecture. 🧵 Marc Veldhoen states: There was no lymphopenia, no superantigen, no immune damage/dysfunction/exhaustion. There are no large outbreaks of infections. Furthermore, there are no increases in cancers due to SARS-CoV-2 infection, no compounded risk of longCovid, etc. Now it is brain damage.
Marc Veldhoen states: Sneaky, nobody can see it, and nobody can be aware..... so they will always be right. They will blame everything and anything on SARS-CoV-2, regardless of its lack of plausibility or the absence of actual evidence. And all the ZeroCovid accounts are at it! Claim: “No lymphopenia, no immune dysfunction, no long COVID.”

Fact: Multiple peer-reviewed studies show SARS-CoV-2 does cause lymphocyte depletion, immune exhaustion, and long-term neurological effects.

Denial ≠ evidence.
Oct 5 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
You fixate on coughs/fever/hospitalisation

Meanwhile, billions w/no obvious symptoms are sustaining brain damage

Empathy. Logic. Foresight

Invisible, ignored, unstoppable

You’re all acting like nothing is happening

Covid isn’t just a virus. It’s a quiet collapse of humanity. While we worry about obvious Covid complications, billions w/out symptoms are suffering hidden brain damage

Impulse control/inhibition/foresight/conscience are quietly eroding

Humanity is losing its mind, one silent infection at a time

Compassion is on the brink of extinction.
Oct 3 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
🧵 Attribution Bias: The Hidden Fuel of COVID Denial

One of the main reasons society refuses to face the ongoing damage of SARS-CoV-2 is attribution bias

It’s not that the harms aren’t there, they’re everywhere

It’s that people are misattributing them to the wrong causes

1/9 Brain fog? Must just be “stress.”

Shortness of breath? Must be “getting older.”

Heart palpitations? Probably “anxiety.”

Cognitive slips? “Too much screen time.”

Anything, literally anything, but admitting that repeat COVID infections are the cause.

2/
Sep 18 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
As a neuropathologist with decades of experience studying dementia, Alzheimer’s & viral brain injury…

I know exactly how brain damage presents itself.

I’m seeing this unfold at a population level each & every day.

SARS-CoV-2 is inflicting neurological harm on a global scale. For the “Correlation isn’t causation” crowd:

Covid is neurotropic, it directly infects the brain. It causes vascular injury/clotting/neurodegeneration.

We’re not guessing. The mechanism is established. The population-level consequences are what you’re watching unfold right now.
Sep 18 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
We don’t live in a free society.

We live in one where obedience is disguised as opportunity.

Where exhaustion is called “hard work.”

Where exploitation is sold as “luck.”

This is modern slavery with a smile.

A thread 🧵 It starts in school. We were told it’s about “education,” but the real lesson is obedience:

- Be on time, every day
- Sit still, don’t question authority
- Complete every assignment, no matter how absurd
- Face punishment if you refuse

i.e. Training for a lifetime of compliance
Aug 27 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
“My baby had Covid and was fine”

Did your baby tell you how their endothelial function, immune system & neurodevelopment are doing compared to baseline?

Did they explain their risk profile for future disease?

Or are you just guessing because they didn’t drop dead on the spot? SARS-CoV-2 isn’t harmless in babies.

Infections are linked to disrupted brain development, higher risk of neurological disorders (incl. autism spectrum, seizures, developmental delay), immune dysregulation & heart damage.

Babies can’t self report.

Fine today ≠ fine long term.
Aug 15 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The neurological toll of COVID is vastly underestimated

Brain scans can look “normal” while things too subtle for MRI detection; microvascular damage, neuroinflammation, and synaptic loss… quietly erode cognition, mood & behaviour

We are flying blind on the scale of impairment MRI is a blunt tool for subtle brain injury.

It can’t resolve microvascular lesions, detect most neuroinflammation, or see lost synaptic connections.

Many COVID-related brain changes are chemical or cellular, leaving scans ‘normal’ while function is impaired.
Aug 14 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
A-level results are out in the UK. Record numbers of students got their first choice university place. Politicians call this a “success story.”

But how is this possible when SARS-CoV-2 has been repeatedly disrupting education and damaging brain health?

🧠🧵 Image Let’s remember:

- Covid disrupts learning through illness, teacher absences, and long-term symptoms/chronic health.

- Many children have been infected multiple times (5-10 times already).

- Each infection increases the risk of ongoing symptoms and neurological effects. Image
Image
Aug 13 • 18 tweets • 6 min read
Surging aggression. Language delays. Developmental issues. Teachers & parents report major changes in children

Lockdowns are often blamed. But many lockdowns were short (e.g. UK)

So what else changed in early childhood since 2020?

I’m a neurologist. Let's talk COVID & brains🧵 Let's be clear: lockdowns may have had an impact on some children, especially in unsafe homes or w/poor digital access. That shouldn't be denied.

But what we're seeing now goes far beyond what short-term isolation would explain, especially in children born after lockdowns ended.
Aug 10 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
How Covid brain damage fuels social & political chaos in UK & USA 🧵

The UK & US face unprecedented strain on healthcare & social trust

Political discourse often scapegoats immigrants/minorities, ignoring a major driver:

The pandemic’s lasting & ongoing neurological toll

1/11 Image
Image
Image
Image SARS-CoV-2 is neurotropic; it infects brain tissue, especially the frontal cortex, critical for empathy, impulse control, and decision-making.

Research shows repeat infections cause cumulative cognitive impairments & damage.

This inevitably erodes social reasoning.

2/
Aug 8 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
Surging aggression. Language delays. Dysregulation. Developmental issues. Teachers & parents are seeing major changes in children.

Lockdowns are often blamed. But UK lockdowns were short. So what else changed in early childhood since 2020?

Let’s talk about COVID. And brains. 🧵 Image
Image
Image
Image Let’s be clear: lockdowns may have had an impact on some children, especially in unsafe homes or w/poor digital access. That shouldn’t be denied.

But what we’re seeing now goes far beyond what short-term isolation would explain, especially in children born after lockdowns ended.
Jul 30 • 21 tweets • 5 min read
🧵 Thread: Why don’t people take COVID seriously in Year 6 of the pandemic?

A virus that disables the immune system, damages the brain, heart, and vasculature.

And spreads like smoke.

Yet the world shrugs.

Why?

Because mass denial is doing what it always does.

1/18 Image
Image
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Image When a threat is chronic, invisible, and socially inconvenient, people don’t rationally evaluate it, they emotionally suppress it.

Denial becomes a survival mechanism. Especially in societies offering zero support for caution, it’s easier to numb out than face reality.

2/