Understanding brain inflammation and mental health symptoms can be difficult and confusing to families, clinicians – and even researchers. As part of our research, we hope to identify ways to determine when brain inflammation is involved in the triggering of mental health symptoms. Did you know brain inflammation and mental health symptoms can result post-viral or even from bacteria from an abscessed tooth or strep infection? And some autoimmune illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and POTS are now thought to have associations with brain inflammation. Even long COVID is being studied for the connection to brain inflammation and mental health symptoms. Help us to collect the data and the bio-samples we need to find the answers to better understand the connection between brain inflammation and mental health. Some of the mental health symptoms we are investigating:

Behavior changes OCD Abnormal restrictive eating behaviors Depression Anxiety disorders Seizures

Brain fog or cognitive issues Intrusive thoughts Chronic fatigue Motor and vocal tics Light-headedness and/or dizziness Joint or nerve pain

See our FAQ’s on Eligibility. Learn more about brain inflammation and mental health on our sponsor website – the Brain Information Collaborative – a larger more extensive site coming soon!