ArticleNeuroImage. Clinical2020
Mapping of pathological change in chronic fatigue syndrome using the ratio of T1- and T2-weighted MRI scans.
Article in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Altered brain tissue microstructure and neurochemical profiles in long COVID and recovered COVID-19 individuals: A multimodal MRI study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- 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
- Psychiatric phenotype in neurodevelopmental myoclonus-dystonia is underpinned by abnormality of cerebellar modulation on the cerebral cortex.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Feasibility and Clinical Correlation.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Subcortical and default mode network connectivity is impaired in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Brainstem volume changes in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID patients.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Anti-Correlated Myelin-Sensitive MRI Levels in Humans Consistent with a Subcortical to Sensorimotor Regulatory Process-Multi-Cohort Multi-Modal Evidence.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Volumetric differences in hippocampal subfields and associations with clinical measures in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Journal of neuroscience research · 2022Article
- Brain Fog in Hypothyroidism: What Is It, How Is It Measured, and What Can Be Done About It.Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association · 2022Review
- Article
- Mindfulness Meditation Interventions for Long COVID: Biobehavioral Gene Expression and Neuroimmune Functioning.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2022Review
- Effects of the Prolong Life With Nine Turn Method (Yan Nian Jiu Zhuan) Qigong on Brain Functional Changes in Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Terms of Fatigue and Quality of Life.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- The Pathobiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Case for Neuroglial Failure.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2022Article
- Alteration of Cortical Volume and Thickness in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Stress, Asthenia, and Cognitive Disorders.Neuroscience and behavioral physiology · 2022Article
- Diffusion tensor imaging reveals neuronal microstructural changes in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.The European journal of neuroscience · 2021Article
- Brainstem Abnormalities in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Scoping Review and Evaluation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) subjects suffer from a variety of cognitive complaints indicating that the central nervous system plays a role in its pathophysiology. Recently, the ratio T1w/T2w has been used to study changes in tissue myelin and/or iron levels in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia. In this study, we applied the T1w/T2w method to detect changes in tissue microstructure in ME/CFS patients relative to healthy controls. We mapped the T1w/T2w signal intensity values in the whole brain for forty-five ME/CFS patients who met Fukuda criteria and twenty-seven healthy controls and applied both region- and voxel-based quantification. We also performed interaction-with-group regressions with clinical measures to test for T1w/T2w relationships that are abnormal in ME/CFS at the population level. Region-based analysis showed significantly elevated T1w/T2w values (increased myelin and/or iron) in ME/CFS in both white matter (WM) and subcortical grey matter. The voxel-based group comparison with sub-millimetre resolution voxels detected very significant clusters with increased T1w/T2w in ME/CFS, mostly in subcortical grey matter, but also in brainstem and projection WM tracts. No areas with decreased T1w/T2w were found in either analysis. ME/CFS T1w/T2w regressions with heart-rate variability, cognitive performance, respiration rate and physical well-being were abnormal in both gray and white matter foci. Our study demonstrates that the T1w/T2w approach is very sensitive and shows increases in myelin and/or iron in WM and basal ganglia in ME/CFS.
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Registered trials
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