Baraniuk, James N, Thapaliya, Kiran, Inderyas, Maira et al. · Scientific reports · 2024 · DOI
This study tested how quickly people with Long COVID and ME/CFS could complete a simple task involving reading color words displayed in different colored inks. Both patient groups were noticeably slower at this task than healthy people, and unlike healthy people, they didn't get faster with practice. This suggests that ME/CFS and Long COVID may involve a problem with how different parts of the brain communicate during problem-solving.
This study provides objective, quantifiable evidence of cognitive dysfunction in ME/CFS and Long COVID, moving beyond subjective patient reports to measurable neuropsychological deficits. Understanding that cognitive impairment persists despite practice suggests a fundamental communication problem in the brain rather than simple attention or fatigue issues, which could guide future treatment development. The similarities between LC and ME/CFS cognitive profiles may identify shared pathophysiological mechanisms.
This study demonstrates cognitive slowing but does not identify which specific brain regions or networks are responsible for the impairment. It cannot distinguish whether the problem originates from reduced overall brain communication capacity, metabolic limitations, or other physiological factors. The findings are correlational and do not establish causation or explain why this cognitive dysfunction occurs.
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 →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Baraniuk, James N, Thapaliya, Kiran, Inderyas, Maira, Shan, Zack Y, & Barnden, Leighton R (2024). Stroop task and practice effects demonstrate cognitive dysfunction in long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome.. Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-75651-3
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-baraniuk-2024-stroop-task,
author = {Baraniuk, James N and Thapaliya, Kiran and Inderyas, Maira and Shan, Zack Y and Barnden, Leighton R},
title = {Stroop task and practice effects demonstrate cognitive dysfunction in long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-024-75651-3},
note = {PubMed: 39500939},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/baraniuk-2024-stroop-task},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/baraniuk-2024-stroop-task
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