Brain

Protection: Skull. Nerves: Cranial (12) (5 Motor, 3 Sense, 4 Motor/Sense)

<ul>

<li>Increased gray matter loss associated with fatigue duration suggested that gray matter loss may be proceeding more rapidly in ME/CFS over time. (As we age we all lose gray matter.)</li>

<li>Reduced white matter levels in the midbrain suggested it may be involved in the autonomic nervous system problems found in ME/CFS</li>

<li>Other clusters in the hypothalamus and brainstem suggested that the central autonomic network has been damaged in ME/CFS</li>

<li>The damage appears to occur in the signaling pathways that connect the network</li>

<li>The low stressors employed in the study (sitting up) suggest Barnden has identified core issues in ME/CFS.</li>

<li>The NIH Intramural study should be able to greatly expand on Barnden’s findings</li>

</ul>

Original, full article from the New York Times: <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/brains-of-people-with-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-offer-clues-about-disorder/?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/brains-of-people-with-chro...</a>

Blood vessels in the brain

Brains of People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Offer Clues About Disorder

Two recent studies — one from investigators at Stanford a few weeks ago and another from a Japanese research team published earlier this year — have found that the brains of people with chronic fatigue syndrome differ from those of healthy people, strengthening the argument that serious physiological dysfunctions are at the root of the condition.

Both studies were small, however, and their results must be replicated before firm conclusions can be drawn. Still, other studies presented at scientific conferences this year also have demonstrated physiological dysfunctions in these patients.

In the most recent study, published by the journal Radiology, researchers at Stanford University compared brain images of 15 patients with the condition to those of 14 healthy people. The scientists found differences in both the white matter, the long, cablelike nerve structures that transmit signals between parts of the brain, and the gray matter, the regions where these signals are processed and interpreted.

The most striking finding was that in people with the disorder, one neural tract in the white matter of the right hemisphere appeared to be abnormally shaped, as if the cablelike nerve structures had crisscrossed or changed in some other way. Furthermore, the most seriously ill patients exhibited the greatest levels of this abnormality.

The researchers also found in M.E./C.F.S. patients a thickening of the gray matter at the two points of the right hemisphere connected by this particular neural tract. And the overall volume of white matter in the brains of patients was reduced, compared with the brains of people without the disorder.

The relationship between the symptoms experienced by patients and the findings is unclear. The two parts of the brain connected by the abnormally shaped white matter are believed to be important for language use.

Dr. Zeineh said these differences, if borne out by further studies, could eventually serve as biological and diagnostic markers for the illness.

In the other brain study, published in March by The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, a team led by researchers from Osaka City University compared PET scans of nine people with M.E./C.F.S. to those of 10 healthy controls. They reported widespread cerebral inflammation in the patients, and found that those with the most severe illness had more inflammation.

If there is widespread inflammation going on, that could explain many of the symptoms.

Many experts now believe that in people with M.E./C.F.S., a viral infection or some other physiological insult or exposure, or perhaps a combination of exposures, has kicked the immune system into permanent overdrive, leading to the cascade of symptoms.

From: <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X">Neural consequences of post-exertion malaise in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - ScienceDirect</a>

There is considerable evidence demonstrating that ME/CFS has both structural and functional brain consequences. Cross-sectional data have shown that ME/CFS patients have reduced resting <a title="Learn more about Brain Blood Flow" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/brain-blood-flow">brain blood flow</a>(<a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0440" name="bb0440">Yoshiuchi et al., 2006</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0015" name="bb0015">Biswal et al., 2011</a>), differing connectivity among brain regions (<a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0230" name="bb0230">Kim et al., 2015</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0025" name="bb0025">Boissoneault et al., 2016</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0175" name="bb0175">Gay et al., 2016</a>), alterations of whole <a title="Learn more about Brain Metabolism" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/brain-metabolism">brain metabolism</a> and for metabolites such as lactate and <a title="Learn more about N-Acetylaspartic Acid" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/n-acetylaspartic-acid">n-acetyl aspartate</a> (<a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0040" name="bb0040">Brooks et al., 2000</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0385" name="bb0385">Siessmeier et al., 2003</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0310" name="bb0310">Murrough et al., 2010</a>), reduced gray and <a title="Learn more about White Matter" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/white-matter">white matter</a> volume (<a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0255" name="bb0255">Lange et al., 2001</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0335" name="bb0335">Okada et al., 2004</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0135" name="bb0135">De Lange et al., 2005</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0350" name="bb0350">Puri et al., 2014</a>), increased presence of white matter lesions (<a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0250" name="bb0250">Lange et al., 1999</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0100" name="bb0100">Cook et al., 2001</a>), increased neuroinflammation (<a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0315" name="bb0315">Nakatomi et al., 2014</a>) and altered brain function during <a title="Learn more about Cognition" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/cognition">cognition</a> (<a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0130" name="bb0130">De Lange et al., 2004</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0260" name="bb0260">Lange et al., 2005</a>, <a class="workspace-trigger" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915911730051X#b0110" name="bb0110">Cook et al., 2007</a>). However, the influence of PEM on many of these brain-derived outcomes remains unexplored.

Interconnectivity between regions as illustrated below