A magnetic therapy headset improves long COVID cognition in a pilot

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported on 30 September 2026, in Brain Communications, that a non-invasive magnetic therapy headset improved cognition in people with long COVID. The triple-blind pilot enrolled 30 people with objectively confirmed cognitive impairment after COVID-19 and randomised them 2:1 to active treatment or sham.

The headset, made by Fareon, delivers Microtesla Magnetic Therapy: a low-amplitude, nonthermal radio-frequency magnetic field applied to the whole brain. Participants used it themselves at home, in 15-minute sessions twice a week for four weeks. The sham devices looked identical but emitted no field.

Compared with sham, the active group improved in working memory, verbal learning, processing speed and emotional well-being. The improvements persisted through four weeks of follow-up after treatment stopped, to week eight. Jacqueline Becker and David Putrino are the co-senior authors.

Mount Sinai describes the study as first-in-human and stresses that the therapy remains investigational: it is not an approved treatment, and the sample is small.