Michael VanElzakker

Michael VanElzakker,Phd, is a neuroscientist affiliated at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Tufts University. He has two primary research interests: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. He has proposed a Vagus nerve hypothesis for ME/CFS.

Notable studies

 * 2013, Chronic fatigue syndrome from vagus nerve infection: A psychoneuroimmunological hypothesis

Talks & Interviews

 * 2015, Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Michael VanElZakker: Chronic fatigue vagus nerve link (8 December)
 * 2015, Podcast interview on Chronic Fatigue from Vagus Nerve Infection (7 December)
 * 2014, An Interview with Michael VanElzakker, Phd (February 14)
 * Appears in Forgotten Plague explaining his hypothesis.

Online Presence

 * PubMed
 * Twitter

Quotes

 * Quoting Louis Pasteur in reference to Vagus nerve hypothesis: "The germ is nothing; the terrain is everything."


 * On the topic of CBT: "I understand that this is a really charged topic among CFS advocates, and there is a lot of misinformation out there. Just to be clear, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) does not get at the root cause of CFS. CBT offers coping strategies and is not a cure. But I can’t think of a single medical condition that isn’t exacerbated by stress. CFS is no different. Having a chronic illness is stressful and it makes one’s life complicated and there’s a grieving process. CBT is for those parts of the illness. It’s intended to help people solve problems and to challenge dysfunctional patterns. If you’re seeing a CBT practitioner who views CFS as a psychologically-based illness and is approaching your CBT that way, fire them. Find someone else."