Mairal, E, Barberon, B, Laine, N et al. · European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2021 · DOI
This study used brain imaging scans (PET scans) to measure how much energy the brain was using in people with ME/CFS. The researchers found that ME/CFS patients had abnormally low brain energy use across large areas of the brain. Notably, after patients received hyperbaric oxygen therapy (breathing oxygen in a pressurized chamber), the brain scans improved and showed more normal energy levels, suggesting the brain changes may be reversible.
This study provides objective neuroimaging evidence that ME/CFS involves measurable metabolic dysfunction in the brain—a significant finding because it demonstrates a biological basis for ME/CFS rather than a purely functional disorder. The apparent reversibility with HBOT raises possibilities for therapeutic intervention, though replication with larger samples is needed to confirm efficacy and mechanisms.
This study does not establish that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an effective treatment for ME/CFS, as it lacks a control group and does not report whether patients experienced clinical symptom improvement alongside imaging changes. The reversibility of PET findings does not prove causation between brain hypometabolism and ME/CFS symptoms, nor does it indicate HBOT would benefit the broader ME/CFS population.
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 →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →