James, L C, Folen, R A · Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.) · 1996 · DOI
This study tested whether a brain training technique called EEG neurofeedback could help a person with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The patient received this treatment and was tested before and after using standard cognitive (thinking) tests. The results showed improvements in memory, thinking skills, daily functioning, and overall quality of life.
This early exploration of EEG neurofeedback suggests a potential neuromodulation-based approach for CFS cognitive symptoms, which could open new treatment avenues if validated. Understanding mechanisms that might improve cognition and function in CFS is clinically important given the substantial cognitive burden many patients experience.
This single case report cannot establish that EEG neurofeedback is an effective CFS treatment—the improvement could reflect placebo effect, natural variation, learning effects from repeated testing, or coincidental life changes. A single patient's response cannot be generalized to the broader CFS population, and without proper controls, causality cannot be determined.
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 →
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