Sandoval, Ariadna, Li, Mingqi, Jason, Leonard A · Frontiers in neurology · 2025 · DOI
This study looked at brain-related symptoms in over 2,600 people with ME/CFS and COVID long-haul (PASC), finding that their cognitive problems fall into two main categories. The first group includes classic memory and concentration difficulties, while the second group involves being overwhelmed by sensory input like loud noises or bright lights. The research suggests that doctors and researchers should pay more attention to sensory overload as an important part of cognitive problems in these conditions.
Many ME/CFS patients report both cognitive problems and overwhelming sensitivity to sensory stimuli, yet previous research often treated these as separate issues rather than related aspects of brain dysfunction. By identifying sensory overload as a distinct neurocognitive domain, this study validates patient experiences and suggests that doctors should assess both memory/concentration AND sensory sensitivity together as interconnected features of post-viral illness. This broader understanding could improve diagnosis, treatment planning, and patient recognition of their symptoms.
This study does not prove that sensory overload and cognitive dysfunction have the same biological cause—only that they cluster together as reported symptoms. The cross-sectional design means we cannot determine whether these neurocognitive patterns change over time or what causes them. The findings are based on patient self-reports rather than objective cognitive testing, so they reflect how patients perceive and describe their symptoms rather than measured brain function.
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
Sandoval, Ariadna, Li, Mingqi, & Jason, Leonard A (2025). Two neurocognitive domains identified for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.. Frontiers in neurology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2025.1612548
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sandoval-2025-two-neurocognitive,
author = {Sandoval, Ariadna and Li, Mingqi and Jason, Leonard A},
title = {Two neurocognitive domains identified for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.},
journal = {Frontiers in neurology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3389/fneur.2025.1612548},
note = {PubMed: 40734821},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sandoval-2025-two-neurocognitive},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sandoval-2025-two-neurocognitive
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