ArticleFrontiers in physiology2013
Caught in the thickness of brain fog: exploring the cognitive symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Article in Frontiers in physiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 155 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brain fog with long covid and chemotherapy: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ mental health · 2025Pooled it
- Mapping cerebral blood flow in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and orthostatic intolerance: insights from a systematic review.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Faintly tired: a systematic review of fatigue in patients with orthostatic syncope.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2022Pooled it
- Concussion and the autonomic nervous system: An introduction to the field and the results of a systematic review.NeuroRehabilitation · 2018Pooled it
- Is self-report brain fog after mild COVID-19 truly induced by COVID-19 infection? A longitudinal fNIRS study.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Adaptation and Translation of the Brain Fog Scale into the Indian Psycho-Socio-Cultural Context.Annals of neurosciences · 2026Article
- Fatigue and Cognitive Impairment in Adults With Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: Results From Concept Elicitation Interviews.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2026Article
- Chronic fatigue syndrome in nursing practice: a concept analysis.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Neurovascular and synaptic milieu of brain-resident cells in cognitive dysfunction of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Nutritional Approaches to Managing Brain Fog: Insights Into Neuroinflammation, the Gut-brain Axis, and Sleep.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
- Social information creates self-fulfilling prophecies in judgments of pain, vicarious pain, and cognitive effort.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Psychopathological, neuropsychological and sociodemographic description of the population using a post-COVID outpatient clinic: results from the 2Long4COVID BLOOD study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Photobiomodulation for cognitive dysfunction (Brain Fog) in post-COVID-19 condition: a randomized double-blind sham-controlled pilot trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- An Overview of Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Toward characterizing brain fog in long COVID: correlates and impact on measurement metrics.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Menopause-related brain fog as a midlife window in women's brain aging: toward ecologically valid measurement and digital phenotyping.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Chronic stress and cognitive dysfunction in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: HPA axis dysregulation and hippocampal plasticity.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Brain fog symptoms in individuals with and without post COVID-19 condition: translation and validation of the brain fog scale.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Cognitive impairment and prefrontal TGF-β1 elevation in a rat model of fatigue.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Perceived cognitive functioning difficulties in individuals living with endometriosis.Journal of health psychology · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is defined as greater than 6 months of persistent fatigue that is experienced physically and cognitively. The cognitive symptoms are generally thought to be a mild cognitive impairment, but individuals with CFS subjectively describe them as "brain fog." The impairment is not fully understood and often is described as slow thinking, difficulty focusing, confusion, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, or a haziness in thought processes. Causes of "brain fog" and mild cognitive impairment have been investigated. Possible physiological correlates may be due to the effects of chronic orthostatic intolerance (OI) in the form of the Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and decreases in cerebral blood flow (CBF). In addition, fMRI studies suggest that individuals with CFS may require increased cortical and subcortical brain activation to complete difficult mental tasks. Furthermore, neurocognitive testing in CFS has demonstrated deficits in speed and efficiency of information processing, attention, concentration, and working memory. The cognitive impairments are then perceived as an exaggerated mental fatigue. As a whole, this is experienced by those with CFS as "brain fog" and may be viewed as the interaction of physiological, cognitive, and perceptual factors. Thus, the cognitive symptoms of CFS may be due to altered CBF activation and regulation that are exacerbated by a stressor, such as orthostasis or a difficult mental task, resulting in the decreased ability to readily process information, which is then perceived as fatiguing and experienced as "brain fog." Future research looks to further explore these interactions, how they produce cognitive impairments, and explain the perception of "brain fog" from a mechanistic standpoint.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.