Grafman, J, Johnson, R, Scheffers, M · Reviews of infectious diseases · 1991 · DOI
This review examined whether ME/CFS causes problems with memory, thinking, and mood. The researchers found that while some people with acute mono or EBV infection may have thinking difficulties, they couldn't confirm this happens in ME/CFS patients using objective tests. However, they did notice that people with ME/CFS often have depression or anxiety either before or alongside their illness.
This study addresses a common concern for ME/CFS patients—whether their cognitive difficulties are real, objective brain changes. Understanding the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and ME/CFS is important for developing better diagnostic criteria and treatment approaches that address both physical and mental health aspects of the condition.
This review does not establish that psychiatric disorders cause ME/CFS, nor does it prove that cognitive complaints in ME/CFS are purely psychological. The authors specifically note that findings about psychiatric co-occurrence are inconclusive regarding causation, and they acknowledge that objective cognitive testing methods available at the time may have been inadequate to detect actual impairment.
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
Grafman, J, Johnson, R, & Scheffers, M (1991). Cognitive and mood-state changes in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Reviews of infectious diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/clinids/13.supplement_1.s45
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-grafman-1991-cognitive-mood,
author = {Grafman, J and Johnson, R and Scheffers, M},
title = {Cognitive and mood-state changes in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Reviews of infectious diseases},
year = {1991},
doi = {10.1093/clinids/13.supplement_1.s45},
note = {PubMed: 1850543},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/grafman-1991-cognitive-mood},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/grafman-1991-cognitive-mood
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.