Vuong, Q C, Allison, J R, Finkelmeyer, A et al. · JDR clinical and translational research · 2020 · DOI
This study looked at how the brains of people with ME/CFS respond during a specific breathing test (the Valsalva maneuver) that activates the autonomic nervous system—the part of your nervous system that controls automatic body functions like heart rate and breathing. Researchers compared brain scans of people with ME/CFS who also had jaw pain (temporomandibular disorder) to those with ME/CFS alone and healthy controls. They found that people with both conditions showed stronger brain activity in areas related to pain and fatigue, suggesting that problems with autonomic nervous system control may contribute to both conditions.
This study is the first to investigate whether ME/CFS patients with co-occurring jaw pain show distinct brain responses to autonomic challenges, potentially explaining why these conditions frequently co-occur. Understanding shared neurobiological mechanisms could lead to better diagnostic approaches and targeted treatments that address autonomic dysfunction in both conditions.
This study does not prove that ANS dysfunction causes ME/CFS or TMD, only that patients with both conditions show different brain activation patterns during autonomic testing. It does not establish whether the increased brain activity is a cause or consequence of the conditions, and findings are preliminary and exploratory in nature with a small sample size. The cross-sectional design means causality cannot be determined.
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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