Yoshiuchi, Kazuhiro, Farkas, Jeffrey, Natelson, Benjamin H · Clinical physiology and functional imaging · 2006 · DOI
This study used advanced brain imaging to measure blood flow in the brains of 25 ME/CFS patients and 7 healthy people. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had less blood flowing to parts of their brain compared to healthy controls, especially those without concurrent psychiatric conditions. This reduced blood flow might help explain some of the cognitive and physical symptoms ME/CFS patients experience.
This study provides objective neurophysiological evidence for brain blood flow abnormalities in ME/CFS, moving beyond earlier inconclusive imaging studies. Understanding that reduced blood flow to the brain occurs in ME/CFS—independent of psychiatric conditions—supports the biological basis of the illness and may guide future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
This study does not prove that reduced blood flow causes ME/CFS symptoms, only that the two occur together. The small sample size (particularly 7 controls) and cross-sectional design prevent determination of whether blood flow changes precede symptom onset or result from the disease process. The study also does not establish whether brain hypoperfusion is a primary mechanism or a secondary consequence of other physiological abnormalities in ME/CFS.
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
Yoshiuchi, Kazuhiro, Farkas, Jeffrey, & Natelson, Benjamin H (2006). Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have reduced absolute cortical blood flow.. Clinical physiology and functional imaging. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-097X.2006.00649.x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-yoshiuchi-2006-patients-chronic,
author = {Yoshiuchi, Kazuhiro and Farkas, Jeffrey and Natelson, Benjamin H},
title = {Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have reduced absolute cortical blood flow.},
journal = {Clinical physiology and functional imaging},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1111/j.1475-097X.2006.00649.x},
note = {PubMed: 16494597},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yoshiuchi-2006-patients-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yoshiuchi-2006-patients-chronic
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