Working memory deficits associated with chronic fatigue 
syndrome

Dobbs, Bonnie; Dobbs, Allen R.; Kiss, Iván

doi:10.1017/s1355617701733024

Cited by 50 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(126 reference statements)

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“…These results are consistent with previous studies (Busichio, et al, 2004;Claypoole, et al, 2007;Dobbs, Dobbs, & Kiss, 2001), providing more evidence of cognitive deficits in people with CFS.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Some studies show impairments in memory (Claypoole et al, 2007;Daly, Komaroff, Bloomingdale, Wilson, & Albert, 2001;DeLuca, Johnson, Ellis, & Natelson, 1997) and executive functioning (Claypoole, et al, 2007;Dobbs, Dobbs, & Kiss, 2001), whereas other studies do not (Ross, Fantie, Straus, & Grafman, 2001;Short, McCabe, & Tooley, 2002). Busichio et al (2004), for example, found that CFS patients showed deficits in attention, speed of information processing and motor speed, but not in memory and executive functioning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neuropsychological Impairment in Female Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Preliminary Study

Santamarina-Pérez

Eiroá-Orosa

Rodríguez‐Urrutia

et al. 2013

Applied Neuropsychology: Adult

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This study examines neuropsychological impairments associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and explores their association with related clinical factors.Sixty-eight women with CFS were assessed with a neuropsychological battery. Raw scores were adjusted for age and gender and converted to T-scores according to normative data extracted from a local sample of 250 healthy subjects.Neuropsychological dysfunction was calculated using summary impairment indices (proportion of test scores outside normal limits-T-score<40-for each cognitive domain).Finally, a linear regression was calculated to identify predictors of cognitive deficit, including intrinsic factors (level of fatigue and length of illness) and extrinsic factors (emotional factors, age and education) of the disease. Approximately 50% of scores showed impairment in attention and motor functioning, and nearly 40% in speed information processing and executive functioning. Fatigue predicted attention and executive functioning impairment, and emotional factors predicted verbal memory dysfunction. According to our findings, cognitive dysfunction in CFS could be explained by pathophysiological processes of the disease. One implication of this would be the need to identify homogeneous subgroups of CFS patients by taking into account common factors which, in turn, would help to identify more specific cognitive profiles, which could then serve to implement appropriate therapeutic measures accordingly.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuropsychological Impairment in Female Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Preliminary Study

Santamarina-Pérez

Eiroá-Orosa

Rodríguez‐Urrutia

et al. 2013

Applied Neuropsychology: Adult

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“…In contrast to increased physical symptoms after exercise, cognitive function did not deteriorate over time although many studies have reported impairment in cognitive function at baseline (22)(23)(24) or after exercise (11,12,25) for patients with CFS. The reason for this discrepancy may relate to our use of the continuous performance test in this study although one of our previous studies showed that exercise did not alter cognitive function (26).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

A real-time assessment of the effect of exercise in chronic fatigue syndrome

Yoshiuchi

Cook

Ohashi

et al. 2007

Physiology & Behavior

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Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) report substantial symptom worsening after exercise. However, the time course over which this develops has not been explored. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of exercise on subjective symptoms and on cognitive function in CFS patients in natural settings using a computerized ecological momentary assessment method, which allowed us to track the effects of exercise within and across days. Subjects were 9 female patients with CFS and 9 healthy women. A watch-type computer was used to collect real time data on physical and psychological symptoms and cognitive function for one week before and two weeks after a maximal exercise test. For each variable, we investigated temporal changes after exercise using multilevel modeling. Following exercise, physical symptoms did get worse but not until a five-day delay in CFS patients. Despite this, there was no difference in the temporal pattern of changes in psychological symptoms or in cognitive function after exercise between CFS patients and controls. In conclusion, physical symptoms worsened after a several day delay in patients with CFS following exercise while psychological symptoms or cognitive function did not change after exercise.

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“…As noted previously, cognitive dysfunction has been found in some, but not all, neuropsychological studies in CFS patients. For instance, whereas several investigations have shown evidence of impaired memory, attention, and information-processing speed in patients with CFS (Deluca et al, , 1997Dobbs et al, 2001;Joyce et al, 1996), other reports have failed to show any significant cognitive alterations in these patients (Michiels and Cluydts, 2001). This discrepancy between results may be due to the variability of methods of assessment of cognitive function, but also may be due to the relative presence of mental fatigue or other relevant symptoms in the patient populations examined.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Cognitive Dysfunction Relates to Subjective Report of Mental Fatigue in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Capuron

Welberg

Heim

et al. 2006

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) frequently complain of cognitive dysfunction. However, evidence of cognitive impairment in CFS patients has been found in some, but not other, studies. This heterogeneity in findings may stem from the relative presence of mental fatigue in the patient populations examined. The present study assessed this possibility in a population-based sample of CFS patients. In all, 43 patients with CFS defined by the criteria of the 1994 research case definition using measurements recommended by the 2003 International CFS Study Group, and 53 age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-matched nonfatigued subjects were included in the study. Mental fatigue was assessed using the mental fatigue subscale of the multidimensional fatigue inventory. Cognitive function was evaluated using an automated battery of computerized tests (Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery (CANTAB)) that assessed psychomotor function, planning and problem-solving abilities, and memory and attentional performance. CFS patients with significant complaints of mental fatigue (score of mental fatigue 2 standard deviations above the mean of nonfatigued subjects) exhibited significant impairment in the spatial working memory and sustained attention (rapid visual information processing) tasks when compared to CFS patients with low complaints of mental fatigue and nonfatigued subjects. In CFS patients with significant mental fatigue, sustained attention performance was impaired only in the final stages of the test, indicating greater cognitive fatigability in these patients. CFS patients with low mental fatigue displayed performance comparable to nonfatigued subjects on all tests of the CANTAB battery. These findings show strong concordance between subjective complaints of mental fatigue and objective measurement of cognitive impairment in CFS patients and suggest that mental fatigue is an important component of CFS-related cognitive dysfunction.

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Working memory deficits associated with chronic fatigue syndrome

Cited by 50 publications

References 59 publications

Neuropsychological Impairment in Female Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Preliminary Study

Neuropsychological Impairment in Female Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Preliminary Study

A real-time assessment of the effect of exercise in chronic fatigue syndrome

Cognitive Dysfunction Relates to Subjective Report of Mental Fatigue in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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