Hampson, Johnson P, Zick, Suzanna M, Khabir, Tohfa et al. · NeuroImage. Clinical · 2015 · DOI
This study used brain imaging to compare how the brains of breast cancer survivors with fatigue differ from those without fatigue. Researchers found that people experiencing persistent cancer-related fatigue showed different patterns of communication between brain regions, particularly involving areas linked to thinking about oneself and regulating sleep. These brain connectivity differences were associated with worse physical fatigue and poor sleep quality.
Although this study focuses on cancer-related fatigue rather than ME/CFS, the identified brain connectivity patterns provide mechanistic insights into how persistent fatigue disrupts neural networks controlling self-awareness and sleep regulation—processes central to both conditions. Understanding these shared neurobiological mechanisms may inform therapeutic targets and validate that fatigue has measurable biological signatures in the brain.
This cross-sectional study cannot establish causation—altered brain connectivity may be a cause, consequence, or epiphenomenon of persistent fatigue. The small sample size (15 fatigued cases) limits generalizability to ME/CFS populations, and findings are specific to breast cancer survivors who have completed treatment. The study does not demonstrate whether these connectivity changes are reversible or predictive of treatment response.
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
Hampson, Johnson P, Zick, Suzanna M, Khabir, Tohfa, Wright, Benjamin D, & Harris, Richard E (2015). Altered resting brain connectivity in persistent cancer related fatigue.. NeuroImage. Clinical. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2015.04.022
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hampson-2015-altered-resting,
author = {Hampson, Johnson P and Zick, Suzanna M and Khabir, Tohfa and Wright, Benjamin D and Harris, Richard E},
title = {Altered resting brain connectivity in persistent cancer related fatigue.},
journal = {NeuroImage. Clinical},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1016/j.nicl.2015.04.022},
note = {PubMed: 26106555},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hampson-2015-altered-resting},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hampson-2015-altered-resting
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