Boissoneault, Jeff, Sevel, Landrew, Robinson, Michael E et al. · Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology · 2018 · DOI
Researchers used brain scans to study what happens in the brain when healthy people remember feeling tired versus happy. They found that fatigue activated different brain regions than happiness did, particularly areas involved in vision and a structure called the globus pallidum. This helps scientists understand the brain basis of fatigue without the complications of studying people who have chronic fatigue syndrome with other medical conditions.
This mechanistic study isolates the brain circuitry of fatigue in healthy controls without confounding comorbidities like depression or pain, providing a foundational understanding of fatigue neural mechanisms relevant to ME/CFS. By identifying specific brain networks associated with fatigue, it offers potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for investigating fatigue pathophysiology in chronic conditions including ME/CFS.
This study does not demonstrate that ME/CFS fatigue arises from the same brain mechanisms as experimental fatigue in healthy people—ME/CFS involves post-exertional malaise, autonomic dysfunction, and persistent symptoms absent in this acute recall paradigm. The findings are correlational and do not establish causal relationships or explain why these brain regions become dysfunctional in disease states. Small sample size (n=17) and use of memory recall rather than actual fatigue-inducing exercise limits generalizability to real-world fatigue experiences.
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
Boissoneault, Jeff, Sevel, Landrew, Robinson, Michael E, & Staud, Roland (2018). Functional brain connectivity of remembered fatigue or happiness in healthy adults: Use of arterial spin labeling.. Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2017.1329407
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-boissoneault-2018-functional-brain,
author = {Boissoneault, Jeff and Sevel, Landrew and Robinson, Michael E and Staud, Roland},
title = {Functional brain connectivity of remembered fatigue or happiness in healthy adults: Use of arterial spin labeling.},
journal = {Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1080/13803395.2017.1329407},
note = {PubMed: 28553882},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/boissoneault-2018-functional-brain},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/boissoneault-2018-functional-brain
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