Toussaint, Loren L, Bratty, Alexandra J · Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2023 · DOI
This study tested whether a brain retraining program called Amygdala and Insula Retraining (AIR) could help people with Long COVID feel less exhausted and have more energy. Over 3 months, people who did the AIR program reported significantly less fatigue and more energy compared to a control group that received a different wellness program. The AIR group showed roughly twice the improvement in energy levels and four times the improvement in fatigue compared to the control group.
This research is significant because it offers ME/CFS and Long COVID patients a non-pharmacological intervention option based on neuroplasticity principles, which may complement existing treatment approaches. The findings suggest that brain-based retraining programs warrant further investigation as potential therapeutic tools for fatigue-dominant conditions. For researchers, this work bridges Long COVID and ME/CFS symptomatology and strengthens evidence for mechanism-specific neurobiological interventions.
This study does not prove that AIR works through the proposed mechanisms of amygdala/insula retraining, as neuroimaging biomarkers were not reported. It does not establish whether improvements result from the specific retraining protocol or from non-specific factors like attention, expectancy, or therapeutic contact. The study's applicability to ME/CFS populations specifically remains unclear, as the research focused on Long COVID.
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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Primary citation
Toussaint, Loren L & Bratty, Alexandra J (2023). Amygdala and Insula Retraining (AIR) Significantly Reduces Fatigue and Increases Energy in People with Long COVID.. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/7068326
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-toussaint-2023-amygdala-insula,
author = {Toussaint, Loren L and Bratty, Alexandra J},
title = {Amygdala and Insula Retraining (AIR) Significantly Reduces Fatigue and Increases Energy in People with Long COVID.},
journal = {Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1155/2023/7068326},
note = {PubMed: 37492483},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/toussaint-2023-amygdala-insula},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/toussaint-2023-amygdala-insula
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