Shan, Zack Y, Finegan, Kevin, Bhuta, Sandeep et al. · NeuroImage. Clinical · 2018 · DOI
This study compared brain activity in ME/CFS patients and healthy people while they performed a challenging word-color matching task. ME/CFS patients were slower at the task, and their brains showed different patterns of activity—specifically, the brain signals were less complex and adaptive. The findings suggest that ME/CFS patients' brains may need to work harder or recruit more areas to handle cognitive challenges.
This is the first study to measure brain signal complexity during cognitive tasks in ME/CFS, providing objective neurobiological evidence of altered brain function beyond subjective symptoms. Understanding how the brain adapts differently to mental effort in ME/CFS may help explain cognitive dysfunction and guide future interventions. The correlation between specific brain regions and quality of life suggests potential biomarkers for disease severity.
This study does not establish causation—it shows correlation between brain signal patterns and ME/CFS, but not what causes these differences. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether reduced brain signal complexity is a cause or consequence of ME/CFS. Sample entropy as a biomarker is novel and would require validation in independent cohorts before clinical application.
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
Shan, Zack Y, Finegan, Kevin, Bhuta, Sandeep, Ireland, Timothy, Staines, Donald R, Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya M, et al. (2018). Brain function characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome: A task fMRI study.. NeuroImage. Clinical. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2018.04.025
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-shan-2018-brain-function,
author = {Shan, Zack Y and Finegan, Kevin and Bhuta, Sandeep and Ireland, Timothy and Staines, Donald R and Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya M and Barnden, Leighton R},
title = {Brain function characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome: A task fMRI study.},
journal = {NeuroImage. Clinical},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1016/j.nicl.2018.04.025},
note = {PubMed: 30035022},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/shan-2018-brain-function},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/shan-2018-brain-function
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