Zeineh, Michael M, Kang, James, Atlas, Scott W et al. · Radiology · 2015 · DOI
This study used advanced brain imaging to compare 15 ME/CFS patients with 14 healthy controls. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had less white matter (the brain's communication pathways) overall, and specific changes in fiber structure on the right side of the brain. The severity of these brain changes correlated with how sick patients felt, suggesting this could be a measurable biological marker of the illness.
This study provides objective neuroimaging evidence of structural brain differences in ME/CFS, moving beyond subjective symptom reporting toward biological measures. The correlation between brain changes and disease severity offers potential for a biomarker that could improve diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response in ME/CFS patients.
This study does not establish causation—the brain changes could be consequences of chronic illness rather than causes of ME/CFS symptoms. The small sample size and retrospective patient recruitment (waiver of consent) limit generalizability, and findings require replication in larger, prospectively enrolled cohorts before clinical application.
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
Zeineh, Michael M, Kang, James, Atlas, Scott W, Raman, Mira M, Reiss, Allan L, Norris, Jane L, et al. (2015). Right arcuate fasciculus abnormality in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Radiology. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.14141079
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-zeineh-2015-right-arcuate,
author = {Zeineh, Michael M and Kang, James and Atlas, Scott W and Raman, Mira M and Reiss, Allan L and Norris, Jane L and Valencia, Ian and Montoya, Jose G},
title = {Right arcuate fasciculus abnormality in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Radiology},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1148/radiol.14141079},
note = {PubMed: 25353054},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zeineh-2015-right-arcuate},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zeineh-2015-right-arcuate
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.