Barnden, Leighton R, Crouch, Benjamin, Kwiatek, Richard et al. · NMR in biomedicine · 2015 · DOI
This study used advanced brain imaging (MRI scans) to examine white matter—the brain's communication wiring—in 25 people with ME/CFS and compared them to 25 healthy controls. The researchers found that in people with more severe ME/CFS, certain areas of the brain showed signs of increased myelination (the protective coating around nerve fibers), particularly in the prefrontal region. Importantly, these brain changes appeared to be distinct from depression and anxiety, suggesting ME/CFS involves unique brain differences.
This study provides objective neuroimaging evidence that ME/CFS involves measurable brain white matter changes distinct from psychiatric comorbidities, helping validate CFS as a distinct neurobiological disorder rather than primarily a psychological condition. The findings suggest dysfunction in communication circuits between the brain, brainstem, and body, which could guide future therapeutic targets and biomarker development.
This study does not prove causation or whether the observed white matter changes are primary causes or secondary responses to illness. The cross-sectional design cannot establish whether myelination changes precede symptoms or develop because of them. Additionally, the relatively small sample size (25 per group) requires replication before findings can be considered definitive.
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
Barnden, Leighton R, Crouch, Benjamin, Kwiatek, Richard, Burnet, Richard, & Del Fante, Peter (2015). Evidence in chronic fatigue syndrome for severity-dependent upregulation of prefrontal myelination that is independent of anxiety and depression.. NMR in biomedicine. https://doi.org/10.1002/nbm.3261
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-barnden-2015-evidence-chronic,
author = {Barnden, Leighton R and Crouch, Benjamin and Kwiatek, Richard and Burnet, Richard and Del Fante, Peter},
title = {Evidence in chronic fatigue syndrome for severity-dependent upregulation of prefrontal myelination that is independent of anxiety and depression.},
journal = {NMR in biomedicine},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1002/nbm.3261},
note = {PubMed: 25702943},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/barnden-2015-evidence-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/barnden-2015-evidence-chronic
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