DePaul University press release, by Jordyn Holliday, 16 March 2017: Cognitive neuroscientists use systems level approach to search for cause of chronic fatigue syndrome
Using electrical neuroimaging, a team of cognitive neuroscientists at the Center for Community Research at DePaul University, is working to determine the reasons for the brain problems commonly seen in chronic fatigue syndrome. In order to gather data for their current study, the research team assesses results from individual 30-minute electroencephalograms (EEGs), a test that measures brain waves.
This is an example of a deregulated network seen in people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Note that nearly all the connections are deregulated, producing a wide range of symptoms. (DePaul University/Center for Community Research)
CHICAGO – A team of researchers from the Center for Community Research at DePaul University are on a mission to better understand why the brain is less efficient in people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a disease that many patients refer to by its original name, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This illness is characterized by extreme muscle
exhaustion, cognitive deficits, as well as unrefreshing sleep. The innovative systems level approach utilized by the research team may lead to important answers about this disease, they note.
Using electrical neuroimaging, research scientist Marcie Zinn, senior research associate Mark Zinn and professor Leonard Jason, are working to determine the reasons for the brain problems commonly seen in this disease. Their research could potentially lead to improved diagnoses and understanding of the disease, which has debilitated over 17 million people worldwide.
‘People become traumatized by a debilitating illness and then become traumatized again by the reaction to them by people who don’t understand,’
said Jason, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Community Research at DePaul. In addition to finding the source of many chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms, their research focuses on debunking the stigma surrounding the disease. ‘This research will examine biological issues involved in this illness,’ Jason said.
‘We know that different regions of the brain have to work together to process information, and problems in those networks can produce many symptoms in patients,’ said Marcie Zinn. ‘These brain problems in CFS could be the result of bad and/or slow connections,’ she noted.
EEG versus functional MRI
In order to gather data for their current study, the research team analyzes responses from online surveys and assesses results from individual 30-minute electroencephalograms (EEGs), a test that measures brain waves.
‘With the approach we use, we can see the brain at the millisecond level, which is 1,000th of 1 second. That’s the timeframe your brain works in. In contrast, there is about a 2 or 3 second delay with the functional MRI,’ Marcie Zinn said.
The researchers’ hope is that their work will help gain a better sense of the possible causes of chronic fatigue syndrome. Physicians, psychologists and other health care professionals then may be better equipped to target treatments to help correct deficits.
Mark Zinn also compared their quantitative EEG approach to social networks.
‘We’re studying interactions in the system of the brain,’ he said. ‘We are studying relationships between neurons,’ he explained, adding that a major advantage of their approach is that they examine the brain on a systems level. ‘Our focus is to link patients’ signs and symptoms to functional systems in the brain, which contrasts with traditional attempts to link patients’ symptoms to brain lesions and other physiological abnormalities,’ Mark Zinn said.
Their innovative systems level approach has been previously published in Applied
Psychophysiology and Biofeedback in 2016.
Center for Community Research
Jason said DePaul’s Center for Community Research has been researching and addressing chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis for 25 years. ‘We have had years of experience in this area, and the nature of our work provides us at DePaul unique opportunities to better understand its etiology and pathophysiology,’ he said.
The results of this latest research may shed light on how brain function relates to the symptoms confronted by patients. It involves studying patients and controls.
