Caseras, X, Mataix-Cols, D, Rimes, K A et al. · Psychological medicine · 2008 · DOI
This study used brain imaging to see how the brains of ME/CFS patients respond when they imagine feeling fatigued, compared to healthy people. Researchers found that patients with ME/CFS showed different patterns of brain activity during fatigue scenarios—some areas lit up more, while others lit up less—suggesting their brains may react more intensely to fatigue and have difficulty controlling these responses.
This study provides neurobiological evidence that fatigue in ME/CFS involves distinct brain activation patterns, moving beyond viewing the symptom as purely psychological or physical. Understanding the neural basis of fatigue could inform development of more targeted treatments and help validate ME/CFS as a condition with measurable biological markers.
This study does not prove that the observed brain differences cause ME/CFS fatigue or that abnormal brain activation is unique to ME/CFS. The use of imaginal (imagined) fatigue scenarios does not necessarily reflect real-world physical fatigue or post-exertional malaise, and correlation between brain activity and symptom reports does not establish causation.
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
Caseras, X, Mataix-Cols, D, Rimes, K A, Giampietro, V, Brammer, M, Zelaya, F, et al. (2008). The neural correlates of fatigue: an exploratory imaginal fatigue provocation study in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Psychological medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291708003450
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-caseras-2008-neural-correlates,
author = {Caseras, X and Mataix-Cols, D and Rimes, K A and Giampietro, V and Brammer, M and Zelaya, F and Chalder, T and Godfrey, E},
title = {The neural correlates of fatigue: an exploratory imaginal fatigue provocation study in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Psychological medicine},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1017/S0033291708003450},
note = {PubMed: 18447963},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/caseras-2008-neural-correlates},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/caseras-2008-neural-correlates
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.