Neu, Daniel, Mairesse, Olivier, Montana, Xavier et al. · European journal of applied physiology · 2014 · DOI
This study compared 16 people with ME/CFS to 14 healthy controls to understand fatigue better. Researchers measured attention, reaction time, muscle strength, sleep patterns, and immune markers (cytokines). They found that people with ME/CFS had cognitive problems, slower reactions, weaker grip strength, and higher levels of certain inflammatory markers—but their sleep time was actually similar to controls.
This study provides objective evidence that ME/CFS fatigue is multidimensional—involving cognitive, physical, and inflammatory components—rather than a simple sleep problem. These findings support the need for comprehensive assessment protocols and suggest inflammatory cytokines may contribute to fatigue severity, potentially opening avenues for targeted treatment.
This small, single-center study cannot establish causation between elevated cytokines and fatigue symptoms, only correlation. The findings may not generalize to all ME/CFS populations, and the study does not demonstrate whether these abnormalities are disease-causing or disease-related consequences. It also does not compare ME/CFS fatigue to other fatigue conditions.
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
Neu, Daniel, Mairesse, Olivier, Montana, Xavier, Gilson, Medhi, Corazza, Francis, Lefevre, Nicolas, et al. (2014). Dimensions of pure chronic fatigue: psychophysical, cognitive and biological correlates in the chronic fatigue syndrome.. European journal of applied physiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-2910-1
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-neu-2014-dimensions-pure,
author = {Neu, Daniel and Mairesse, Olivier and Montana, Xavier and Gilson, Medhi and Corazza, Francis and Lefevre, Nicolas and Linkowski, Paul and Le Bon, Olivier and Verbanck, Paul},
title = {Dimensions of pure chronic fatigue: psychophysical, cognitive and biological correlates in the chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {European journal of applied physiology},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1007/s00421-014-2910-1},
note = {PubMed: 24878689},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/neu-2014-dimensions-pure},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/neu-2014-dimensions-pure
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