ArticleNeuroImage. Clinical2019
Intra brainstem connectivity is impaired in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Article in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Neurovascular and synaptic milieu of brain-resident cells in cognitive dysfunction of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Predicting Potential Treatment Targets for Fatigue in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Using Thalamic Seeding.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Pathophysiological, Translational, and Diagnostic Aspects of ME/CFS: A Focus on Skeletal Muscle Involvement.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Distinct functional connectivity patterns in myalgic encephalomyelitis and long COVID patients during cognitive fatigue: a 7 Tesla task-fMRI study.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Cognitive Dysfunction in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Aetiology and Potential Treatments.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Exertional Exhaustion (Post-Exertional Malaise, PEM) Evaluated by the Effects of Exercise on Cerebrospinal Fluid Metabolomics-Lipidomics and Serine Pathway in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Review of Neuroimaging Methods in ME/CFS.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025Review
- Hippocampal subfield volume alterations and associations with severity measures in long COVID and ME/CFS: A 7T MRI study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Stroop task and practice effects demonstrate cognitive dysfunction in long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of the Prolong Life With Nine Turn-Method Qigong on Fatigue, Insomnia, Anxiety, and Gastrointestinal Disorders in Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Catalytic Antibodies May Contribute to Demyelination in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Biochemistry · 2024Article
- Comprehensive MRI assessment reveals subtle brain findings in non-hospitalized post-COVID patients with cognitive impairment.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Decoding visual fatigue in a visual search task selectively manipulated via myopia-correcting lenses.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- A hypoarousal model of neurological post-COVID syndrome: the relation between mental fatigue, the level of central nervous activation and cognitive processing speed.Journal of neurology · 2023Article
- Pathogenesis Underlying Neurological Manifestations of Long COVID Syndrome and Potential Therapeutics.Cells · 2023Review
- Converging Evidence of Similar Symptomatology of ME/CFS and PASC Indicating Multisystemic Dyshomeostasis.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Altered brain connectivity in Long Covid during cognitive exertion: a pilot study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Subcortical and default mode network connectivity is impaired in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- ME/CFS and Long COVID share similar symptoms and biological abnormalities: road map to the literature.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), abnormal MRI correlations with symptom severity and autonomic measures have suggested impaired nerve signal conduction within the brainstem. Here we analyse fMRI correlations to directly test connectivity within and from the brainstem. Resting and task functional MRI (fMRI) were acquired for 45 ME/CFS (Fukuda criteria) and 27 healthy controls (HC). We selected limited brainstem reticular activation system (RAS) regions-of-interest (ROIs) based on previous structural MRI findings in a different ME/CFS cohort (bilateral rostral medulla and midbrain cuneiform nucleus), the dorsal Raphe nucleus, and two subcortical ROIs (hippocampus subiculum and thalamus intralaminar nucleus) reported to have rich brainstem connections. When HC and ME/CFS were analysed separately, significant correlations were detected for both groups during both rest and task, with stronger correlations during task than rest. In ME/CFS, connections were absent between medulla and midbrain nuclei, although hippocampal connections with these nuclei were enhanced. When corresponding correlations from HC and ME/CFS were compared, ME/CFS connectivity deficits were detected within the brainstem between the medulla and cuneiform nucleus and between the brainstem and hippocampus and intralaminar thalamus, but only during task. In CFS/ME, weaker connectivity between some RAS nuclei was associated with increased symptom severity. RAS neuron oscillatory signals facilitate coherence in thalamo-cortical oscillations. Brainstem RAS connectivity deficits can explain autonomic changes and diminish cortical oscillatory coherence which can impair attention, memory, cognitive function, sleep quality and muscle tone, all symptoms of ME/CFS.
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Registered trials
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.