Floris P. de Lange a, Joke S. Kalkman b, Gijs Bleijenberg b, Peter Hagoort a,
Jos W.M. van der Meer c and Ivan Toni

Gray matter volume reduction in the chronic fatigue syndrome

NeuroImage, Vol 26, 3, 1 Jul 2005, 777-81

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.02.037

Abstract
"The chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disabling disorder of unknown
etiology. The symptomatology of CFS (central fatigue, impaired
concentration, attention and memory) suggests that this disorder could be
related to alterations at the level of the central nervous system. In this
study, we have used an automated and unbiased morphometric technique to test
whether CFS patients display structural cerebral abnormalities.

"We mapped structural cerebral morphology and volume in two cohorts of CFS
patients (in total 28 patients) and healthy controls (in total 28 controls)
from high-resolution structural magnetic resonance images, using voxel-based
morphometry. Additionally, we recorded physical activity levels to explore
the relation between severity of CFS symptoms and cerebral abnormalities.

"We observed significant reductions in global gray matter volume in both
cohorts of CFS patients, as compared to matched control participants.
Moreover, the decline in gray matter volume was linked to the reduction in
physical activity, a core aspect of CFS.

"These findings suggest that the central nervous system plays a key role in
the pathophysiology of CFS and point to a new objective and quantitative
tool for clinical diagnosis of this disabling disorder. "

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Caption from Figure 3

"Fig. 3. Relation between physical activity and gray matter volume. There is
a positive relationship between the amount of general physical activity and
the gray matter volume within the CFS population (in red), but not in the
healthy control group (in green). (*) General physical activity measured
over a 2-week period with a movement-sensing device, expressed in number of
accelerations per 5-min period. "