The first article you linked to seems to agree with what the CDC is saying. The initial variants of COVID-19 were much worse, that's where the "infection lowers

The first article you linked to seems to agree with what the CDC is saying. The initial variants of COVID-19 were much worse, that's where the "infection lowers your IQ by 3 points" comes from, but the disease has become much more mild. "The adverse cognitive impact was worst with the original (ancestral) virus and the Alpha variant, compared with subsequent Delta and Omicron variants" https://erictopol.substack.com/p/long-covid-and-cognitive-deficits https://erictopol.substack.com/p/long-covid-and-cognitive-de...