Wu, Tong, Qi, Xianghua, Su, Yuan et al. · Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2016 · DOI
Researchers used brain wave recordings (EEG) to study electrical activity in the brains of ME/CFS patients compared to healthy controls. They found that ME/CFS patients had reduced brain activity with certain wave patterns being more prominent, particularly in specific regions of the brain. This suggests that ME/CFS affects how the brain's electrical system functions.
This study provides objective neurophysiological evidence that ME/CFS involves measurable abnormalities in brain electrical activity, supporting the biological basis of the condition beyond subjective symptom reports. Identifying specific EEG patterns could eventually help develop diagnostic biomarkers and guide research into underlying neurological dysfunction in ME/CFS.
This study does not establish whether the observed EEG changes cause ME/CFS symptoms or result from them, nor does it prove these changes are unique to ME/CFS. The small sample size and cross-sectional design mean results cannot determine if EEG abnormalities persist over time or predict treatment response. Correlation of EEG patterns with symptom severity or functional outcomes was not assessed.
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
Wu, Tong, Qi, Xianghua, Su, Yuan, Teng, Jing, & Xu, Xiangqing (2016). Electroencephalogram characteristics in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S92911
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-wu-2016-electroencephalogram-characteristics,
author = {Wu, Tong and Qi, Xianghua and Su, Yuan and Teng, Jing and Xu, Xiangqing},
title = {Electroencephalogram characteristics in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.2147/NDT.S92911},
note = {PubMed: 26869792},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wu-2016-electroencephalogram-characteristics},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wu-2016-electroencephalogram-characteristics
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