Wilson, Rachel L, Paterson, Kevin B, Hutchinson, Claire V · Perception · 2015 · DOI
This study tested whether people with ME/CFS experience more visual discomfort when looking at certain patterns compared to healthy people. Forty participants (20 with ME/CFS and 20 without) viewed three different striped patterns and reported how distorted or uncomfortable they looked. People with ME/CFS reported significantly more visual distortion, especially when viewing medium-frequency patterns, suggesting their eyes and brains may process visual information differently.
Visual distress is a common but poorly understood symptom in ME/CFS. This study provides objective evidence that pattern-related visual stress may be a measurable clinical feature of ME/CFS, potentially supporting diagnosis and validating patients' experiences. Understanding sensory processing abnormalities in ME/CFS could lead to better symptom management and inform research into the neurological basis of the disease.
This study does not prove that pattern-related visual stress causes ME/CFS or vice versa—it only shows an association. The cross-sectional design cannot establish whether altered visual perception is a primary feature of ME/CFS, a consequence of the illness, or related to other factors. It also does not identify the specific neural mechanisms responsible for the visual distortions observed.
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
Wilson, Rachel L, Paterson, Kevin B, & Hutchinson, Claire V (2015). Increased Vulnerability to Pattern-Related Visual Stress in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.. Perception. https://doi.org/10.1177/0301006615614467
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-wilson-2015-increased-vulnerability,
author = {Wilson, Rachel L and Paterson, Kevin B and Hutchinson, Claire V},
title = {Increased Vulnerability to Pattern-Related Visual Stress in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.},
journal = {Perception},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1177/0301006615614467},
note = {PubMed: 26562880},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wilson-2015-increased-vulnerability},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wilson-2015-increased-vulnerability
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