Boissoneault, Jeff, Letzen, Janelle, Lai, Song et al. · Clinical physiology and functional imaging · 2018 · DOI
Researchers used a brain imaging technique to compare how the brains of people with ME/CFS and healthy people process information during a tiring mental task. They found that people with ME/CFS had different patterns of communication between brain regions, and these patterns were linked to how fatigued they felt. This suggests that the fatigue experienced in ME/CFS may be related to how different parts of the brain work together.
This is the first study to examine both static and dynamic brain connectivity patterns during cognitive exertion in ME/CFS, providing neurobiological evidence that fatigue symptoms may reflect measurable disruptions in how brain networks communicate. Understanding these network differences could eventually lead to better diagnostic tools and targeted treatments that address the underlying brain dysfunction rather than just symptom management.
This study cannot establish whether the observed brain connectivity changes cause fatigue or result from it—the relationship could be bidirectional. The small sample size (19 CFS patients) limits generalizability, and the findings describe only a single cognitive task and do not address post-exertional malaise, which is a defining feature of ME/CFS. The authors note these findings may not apply to other fatiguing conditions without further research.
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, Letzen, Janelle, Lai, Song, Robinson, Michael E, & Staud, Roland (2018). Static and dynamic functional connectivity in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: use of arterial spin labelling fMRI.. Clinical physiology and functional imaging. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpf.12393
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-boissoneault-2018-static-dynamic,
author = {Boissoneault, Jeff and Letzen, Janelle and Lai, Song and Robinson, Michael E and Staud, Roland},
title = {Static and dynamic functional connectivity in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: use of arterial spin labelling fMRI.},
journal = {Clinical physiology and functional imaging},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1111/cpf.12393},
note = {PubMed: 27678090},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/boissoneault-2018-static-dynamic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/boissoneault-2018-static-dynamic
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.