van de Putte, Elise M, Böcker, Koen B, Buitelaar, Jan et al. · Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine · 2008 · DOI
This study looked at how well teenagers with ME/CFS could focus and filter out distractions compared to healthy teenagers. Researchers used brain activity tests to see if adolescents with ME/CFS had difficulty with tasks requiring concentration and filtering out irrelevant information. The findings suggest that ME/CFS in teenagers may affect how the brain controls attention and handles competing information.
Understanding cognitive deficits in ME/CFS is crucial for validating patients' experiences and identifying objective biological markers of the illness. This research provides neurobiological evidence that ME/CFS affects brain function in measurable ways, which can help reduce diagnostic uncertainty and support the development of targeted interventions for adolescents with the condition.
This cross-sectional study cannot establish whether interference control deficits are a cause or consequence of ME/CFS, nor can it prove these deficits are unique to ME/CFS or that they persist over time. The findings show association, not causation, and the mechanisms underlying these deficits remain unclear.
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
van de Putte, Elise M, Böcker, Koen B, Buitelaar, Jan, Kenemans, J Leon, Engelbert, Raoul H H, Kuis, Wietse, et al. (2008). Deficits of interference control in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.162.12.1196
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-van-de-putte-2008-deficits-interference,
author = {van de Putte, Elise M and Böcker, Koen B and Buitelaar, Jan and Kenemans, J Leon and Engelbert, Raoul H H and Kuis, Wietse and Kimpen, Jan L L and Uiterwaal, Cuno S P M},
title = {Deficits of interference control in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1001/archpedi.162.12.1196},
note = {PubMed: 19047552},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-de-putte-2008-deficits-interference},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-de-putte-2008-deficits-interference
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