in the parts of the brain related to the sense of smell and memory. and those who had been infected found it harder to perform complex mental tasks. the scientists have been trying to assess what the changes mean. the infected participants also had more difficulties, greater difficulties in performing complex tasks, compared with those who did not get infected. and we can relate that to how much of their brain had shrunk. so, yes, it does have real life consequences. what s not yet clear is whether the changes are permanent or if they can be reversed. it can get scary to hear about the fact that your brain has shrunk. but we need to bear in mind that the brain is really plastic. by that, we mean it can heal itself. and there are signs this may be possible. it smells like eucalyptus now, thankfully. paola lost her sense of smell after catching covid in march 2020. through smell training with the abscent charity, it s starting to get better.