Barnden, Leighton R, Shan, Zack Y, Staines, Donald R et al. · NeuroImage. Clinical · 2018 · DOI
Researchers used advanced MRI scans to compare the brains of 43 people with ME/CFS and 27 healthy people. They found that people with ME/CFS had different patterns in their brainstem (the base of the brain that controls basic functions) and in the sensorimotor areas (parts that control movement and sensation). The study suggests that the body may be compensating for problems in the brainstem by increasing protective coating around nerve fibers in motor control areas.
This study identifies a potential structural brain abnormality in ME/CFS patients—altered myelin patterns in the brainstem and sensorimotor regions—which could explain some neurological symptoms like fatigue and movement difficulties. Understanding whether the brain is compensating for dysfunction may open new avenues for treatment development and help validate ME/CFS as a neurobiological condition.
This study cannot establish causality; the authors cannot determine whether brainstem abnormality causes sensorimotor changes or vice versa. The cross-sectional design captures only a snapshot in time and cannot track disease progression or confirm that these changes are disease-specific rather than consequences of reduced activity. The relationship between MRI signal changes and actual clinical symptoms requires validation in 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 →
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, Shan, Zack Y, Staines, Donald R, Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya, Finegan, Kevin, Ireland, Timothy, et al. (2018). Hyperintense sensorimotor T1 spin echo MRI is associated with brainstem abnormality in chronic fatigue syndrome.. NeuroImage. Clinical. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2018.07.011
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-barnden-2018-hyperintense-sensorimotor,
author = {Barnden, Leighton R and Shan, Zack Y and Staines, Donald R and Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya and Finegan, Kevin and Ireland, Timothy and Bhuta, Sandeep},
title = {Hyperintense sensorimotor T1 spin echo MRI is associated with brainstem abnormality in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {NeuroImage. Clinical},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1016/j.nicl.2018.07.011},
note = {PubMed: 30497131},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/barnden-2018-hyperintense-sensorimotor},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/barnden-2018-hyperintense-sensorimotor
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