Mizuno, Kei, Watanabe, Yasuyoshi · Frontiers in physiology · 2013 · DOI
This study examined how ME/CFS affects thinking and attention skills in children and teenagers. Researchers found that young people with ME/CFS have difficulty with tasks that require switching between activities or paying attention to multiple things at once. The brain regions responsible for these skills are still developing during childhood, and severe fatigue may slow down or disrupt this normal development.
Understanding how ME/CFS affects developing brains in children is crucial for early intervention and treatment planning. Identifying that attention problems may result from disrupted brain development rather than simple fatigue could lead to more targeted therapeutic approaches. This research emphasizes the importance of addressing cognitive symptoms in pediatric ME/CFS rather than dismissing them as secondary effects of tiredness.
This review does not establish definitive causation—it cannot prove that chronic fatigue directly causes abnormal brain development, only that an association appears to exist. The study does not provide original neuroimaging or physiological data to confirm structural or functional brain changes. It also does not establish whether cognitive impairment is reversible or what specific mechanisms link fatigue to neurodevelopmental disruption.
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
Mizuno, Kei & Watanabe, Yasuyoshi (2013). Neurocognitive impairment in childhood chronic fatigue syndrome.. Frontiers in physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2013.00087
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mizuno-2013-neurocognitive-impairment,
author = {Mizuno, Kei and Watanabe, Yasuyoshi},
title = {Neurocognitive impairment in childhood chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Frontiers in physiology},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.3389/fphys.2013.00087},
note = {PubMed: 23626579},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mizuno-2013-neurocognitive-impairment},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mizuno-2013-neurocognitive-impairment
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