Last week, I was able to have another Mentor Visit with Dr. Didehbani. I presented the articles that I had researched over the past few weeks and she verified them to ensure that they were credible and relevant. I was able to collect thirteen articles connecting COVID-19 and neurological disorders and six articles connecting COVID-19 and mental health. I felt I was very successful in my research process as I exceeded my goals of collecting 2 articles each on cognition and mental health in relation to COVID-19.
Through Dr. Didehbani and I's review of the articles, we found that I had too many articles describing physiological symptoms rather than cognitive factors, such as attention, memory, and processing speed. Dr. Didehbani explained to me that although the articles I found connecting COVID-19 and the brain would serve as excellent background material, a neuropsychological review of the current research would include a greater focus on behavior. She suggested I search for COVID-19 and its relation to cognitive disorders such as dementia, Alzheimer's, and brain fog to find more relevant results. Using this knowledge, I will go forward in altering my research process to focus more on cognition and finalize my articles to have 5 excellent articles to include in my literature review by the end of my research period.