Gordon, R, Michalewski, H J, Nguyen, T et al. · International journal of molecular medicine · 1999 · DOI
Researchers measured electrical brain activity in people with ME/CFS while they performed tasks like responding to targets, remembering information, and moving on command. They found that people with ME/CFS were slower at these tasks and showed weaker brain signals before moving, suggesting their brains may prepare for movement differently. However, their brains processed sensory information and made decisions normally.
This study provides objective neurophysiological evidence that ME/CFS involves specific motor preparation deficits rather than global cognitive dysfunction. Understanding which brain processes are impaired (motor readiness) versus intact (sensory processing) helps clarify disease mechanisms and may guide development of targeted rehabilitation strategies.
This study does not prove what causes the reduced premovement potentials or whether they are a primary neurological abnormality versus a consequence of other ME/CFS pathology. It cannot establish causation and does not measure whether these brain changes correlate with severity of fatigue or functional impairment in individual patients.
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
Gordon, R, Michalewski, H J, Nguyen, T, Gupta, S, & Starr, A (1999). Cortical motor potential alterations in chronic fatigue syndrome.. International journal of molecular medicine. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.4.5.493
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-gordon-1999-cortical-motor,
author = {Gordon, R and Michalewski, H J and Nguyen, T and Gupta, S and Starr, A},
title = {Cortical motor potential alterations in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {International journal of molecular medicine},
year = {1999},
doi = {10.3892/ijmm.4.5.493},
note = {PubMed: 10534571},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gordon-1999-cortical-motor},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gordon-1999-cortical-motor
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