Addiego, Florencia Martinez, Zajur, Kristina, Knack, Sarah et al. · Life sciences · 2021 · DOI
Researchers used brain imaging to measure the size of deep brain structures in people with ME/CFS, Gulf War Illness, and healthy controls. They found that men and women with these conditions had different patterns of brain volume changes, suggesting that sex differences play an important role in how these illnesses affect the brain. The findings suggest that previous brain imaging studies may need to be reconsidered to account for whether participants were male or female.
This study provides evidence that ME/CFS involves measurable changes in brain structure, and importantly, shows that these changes differ between men and women. Understanding sex-specific brain differences may help researchers develop better diagnostic approaches and personalized treatments for ME/CFS and similar conditions.
This study documents associations between disease status and brain volume but does not establish causation or whether these volume differences cause ME/CFS symptoms or result from the illness. Cross-sectional design prevents determination of whether these changes precede symptom onset or progress over time. The findings cannot be generalized to all ME/CFS patients without larger longitudinal studies.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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Primary citation
Addiego, Florencia Martinez, Zajur, Kristina, Knack, Sarah, Jamieson, Jessie, Rayhan, Rakib U, & Baraniuk, James N (2021). Subcortical brain segment volumes in Gulf War Illness and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Life sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119749
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-addiego-2021-subcortical-brain,
author = {Addiego, Florencia Martinez and Zajur, Kristina and Knack, Sarah and Jamieson, Jessie and Rayhan, Rakib U and Baraniuk, James N},
title = {Subcortical brain segment volumes in Gulf War Illness and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Life sciences},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119749},
note = {PubMed: 34214570},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/addiego-2021-subcortical-brain},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/addiego-2021-subcortical-brain
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