Putra, Handityo A, Park, Kaechang, Yamashita, Fumio et al. · Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022 · DOI
This study looked at how fatigue is connected to the size of different brain regions in 1,618 healthy people. Researchers found that people who reported more fatigue had smaller volume in one brain area (supplementary motor area) but larger volume in two other areas (superior parietal lobule and basal forebrain). Interestingly, desk workers and non-desk workers showed different patterns, suggesting that work environment may influence how fatigue affects the brain.
Understanding how fatigue correlates with brain structure in healthy people may illuminate early biological mechanisms of fatigue progression and inform prevention strategies. This work provides a foundation for understanding whether similar or divergent brain changes occur in ME/CFS patients, and suggests that occupational and environmental factors should be considered when investigating fatigue pathophysiology.
This study does not establish causation—we cannot determine whether brain volume changes cause fatigue perception or result from it. The findings are from healthy individuals without CFS, so they may not directly apply to ME/CFS pathophysiology. Cross-sectional data cannot demonstrate whether these brain differences precede fatigue development or whether they are consequences of sustained fatigue.
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 →
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