Journal article
Neuroimaging characteristics of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): a systematic review
Journal of Translational Medicine, Vol.18(1), pp.1-11
2020
PMCID: PMC7466519
PMID: 32873297
Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection
Abstract
Background:
Since the 1990s, neuroimaging has been utilised to study Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a debilitating illness with unknown aetiology. While brain abnormalities in ME/CFS have been identified, relatively little is known regarding which specific abnormalities are consistently observed across research groups and to what extent the observed abnormalities are reproducible.
Method:
To identify consistent and inconsistent neuroimaging observations in ME/CFS, this retrospective and systematic review searched for studies in which neuroimaging was used to investigate brain abnormalities in ME/CFS in Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed (NCBI), and Scopus from January 1988 to July 2018. A qualitative synthesis of observations was performed to identify brain abnormalities that were consistently and inconsistently reported.
Results:
63 full-text articles were included in the synthesis of results from 291 identified papers. Additional brain area recruitment for cognitive tasks and abnormalities in the brain stem are frequent observations in 11 and 9 studies using different modalities from different research teams respectively. Also, sluggish blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal responses to tasks, reduced serotonin transporters, and regional hypometabolism are consistent observations by more than two research teams. Single observations include abnormal brain tissue properties, regional metabolic abnormalities, and association of brain measures with ME/CFS symptoms. Reduced resting cerebral blood flow and volumetric brain changes are inconsistent observations across different studies.
Conclusion:
Neuroimaging studies of ME/CFS have frequently observed additional brain area recruitment during cognitive tasks and abnormalities in the brain stem. The frequent observation of additional brain area recruitment and consistent observation of sluggish fMRI signal response suggest abnormal neurovascular coupling in ME/CFS.
Details
- Title
- Neuroimaging characteristics of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): a systematic review
- Authors
- Zack Y Shan (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteLeighton R Barnden (Author) - Griffith UniversityRichard A Kwiatek (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteSandeep Bhuta (Author) - Gold Coast HospitalDaniel F Hermens (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteJim Lagopoulos (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson Institute
- Publication details
- Journal of Translational Medicine, Vol.18(1), pp.1-11
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Date published
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12967-020-02506-6
- ISSN
- 1479-5876
- PMID
- 32873297; PMC7466519
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
- Organisation Unit
- Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99474908802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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