Table 2.
Summary of 16 fMRI studies in CFS/ME
| Authors | CFS definition | Sample size CFS/HC* |
Age† ~CFS ~HC |
Sex M/F CFS HC |
Magnetic strength in Tesla (T) | Full MRI protocol | Analysis method | Task for fMRI | Comparison groups |
| Gay et al23 | Fukuda | 19/17 | ~48.75 | 0/19 0/17 |
3.0 | Y | SPM8 | Resting state | CFS vs HC |
| Kim et al24 | CDC | 18/18 | 25–54 | 0/18 0/18 |
3.0 | Y | SPM8 | Resting state | CFS vs HC |
| Wortinger et al25 | Fukuda | 15/24 | 12–18 | 1/14 8/16 |
1.5 | Y | SPM8 | Emotional conflict effect | CFS only |
| Wortinger et al26 | Fukuda and NICE | 18/18 | 12–18 | 2/16 2/16 |
3 | Y | SPM8 | Resting state | CFS vs HC |
| Cook et al27 | Fukuda | 9/11 | ~43 ~42 |
3/6 3/8 |
3.0 | Y | SPM2 | Working memory | CFS vs HC |
| Mizuno et al28 | Fukuda | 13/13 | ~13 | 4/9 7/6 |
3.0 | Y | SPM8 | Reward processing | CFS vs HC |
| Mizuno et al29 | Fukuda | 15/13 | 11–14 | 9/6 4/9 |
3.0 | Y | SPM5 | Dual attention task | CFS vs HC |
| de Lange et al30 | CDC and Fukuda | 16/16 | 20–45 | 0/16 0/16 |
1.5 | Y | SPM99 | Mental rotation task | CFS vs HC |
| Lange et al31 | CDC and Fukuda | Study 1 6/7 | Study 1 ~38.17 ~30.71 |
Study 1 0/100% 43/57% |
1.5 | Y | SPM99 | Simple attention and working memory | CFS vs HC |
| Study 2 19/15 | Study 2 ~37.53 ~30.80 |
Study 2 16/84% 32/68% |
|||||||
| Tanaka et al32 | Fukuda | 6/7 | ~30.4 ~26.1 |
6/0 7/0 |
3.0 | Y | SPM99 | Visual search | CFS vs HC |
| Caseras et al33 | CDC | 17/12 | 22–45 | 8/11 | 1.5 | Y | XBAM software | Working memory | CFS vs HC |
| Caseras et al34 | CDC and Fukuda | 12/11 | 22–45 | 34/66% | 1.5 | Y | XBAM software | Fatigue and anxiety provoking mimic real-life situation | CFS vs HC |
| Wortinger et al35 | Fukuda and NICE |
18/18 | 12–18 | 2/16 | 3.0 | Y | FSL | Resting state | CFS vs HC |
| Miller et al42 | CDC | 18/41 | ~47.2 ~44.2 |
2/16 33/8 |
3.0 | Y | AFNI | Reward processing | CFS vs HC |
| Shan et al40 | Fukuda | 45/27 | 47.12 (11.67) /43.10 (13.77) | 12/33 9/18 |
3 | Y | SPM12 | Stroop task and resting state | CFS vs HC |
| Cook et al41 | CDC and Fukuda |
15/15 | 42.7 (11.1) /43.2 (10.4) | 0/15 0/15 |
3 | Y | AFNI | PASAT, simple number recognition and finger tapping | CFS vs HC |
*Healthy controls
†Some studies provided average age and others provided a range
AFNI, Analysis of Functional NeuroImages; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome; F, female; fMRI, functional MRI; FSL, FMRIB Software Library; HC, healthy control; M, male; ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis; NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; PASAT, Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test; SPM, statistical parametrical mapping; XBAM, Individual Brain Activation Maps.