Cognitive dysfunction: Difference between revisions

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history
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Drugs, supplements and other treatments that have been suggested for improving brain fog:
Drugs, supplements and other treatments that have been suggested for improving brain fog:
*[[Acetyl-L-carnitine]]<ref name="Uson2014" />
*[[Acetyl-L-carnitine]]<ref name="Uson2014" />
*[[Arabinoxylan]] (ineffective)<ref name="Uson2014">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1586/14737175.8.6.917</ref>
*[[Arabinoxylan]] (ineffective)<ref name="Uson2014">{{Cite journal|title=A Systematic Review of Drug Therapies for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis|date=Jun 2016|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27229907/|journal=Clinical Therapeutics|volume=38|issue=6|pages=1263–1271.e9|last=Collatz|first=Ansel|author-link=|last2=Johnston|first2=Samantha C.|author-link2=|last3=Staines|first3=Donald R.|author-link3=Donald Staines|last4=Marshall-Gradisnik|first4=Sonya M.|author-link4=Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik|last5=|first5=|author-link5=|last6=|first6=|author-link6=|last7=|first7=|last8=|first8=|last9=|first9=|doi=10.1016/j.clinthera.2016.04.038|pmc=|pmid=27229907|access-date=|issn=1879-114X|quote=|via=}}</ref>
*[[B vitamin complex]]
*[[B vitamin complex]]
*[[B vitamin]]
*[[B vitamin]]
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*[[Hydrocortisone]] (most trials show some positive effective)<ref name="Uson2014" />
*[[Hydrocortisone]] (most trials show some positive effective)<ref name="Uson2014" />
*[[Methylene blue]]
*[[Methylene blue]]
*[[Methylphenidate]] and the experimental treatment [[KPAX002]]
*[[Methylphenidate]] and the experimental treatment [[KPAX002]]<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Diagnostic and treatment challenges of chronic fatigue syndrome: role of immediate-release methylphenidate|date=2008-06-01|url=https://doi.org/10.1586/14737175.8.6.917|journal=Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics|volume=8|issue=6|pages=917–927|last=Valdizán Usón|first=José Ramón|last2=Idiazábal Alecha|first2=María Ángeles|doi=10.1586/14737175.8.6.917|issn=1473-7175}}</ref>
*[[Modafinil]] (ineffective)<ref name="Uson2014" />
*[[Modafinil]] (ineffective)<ref name="Uson2014" />
*[[Moclobemide]]<ref name="Uson2014" />
*[[Moclobemide]]<ref name="Uson2014" />
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Drugs, supplements or interventions that may cause cognitive problems:
Drugs, supplements or interventions that may cause cognitive problems:
*[[Diphenhydramine]]
*[[Diphenhydramine]]
*[[Exercise]]<ref name=":1" /><ref name="canadianconsensus-CCC" />
*[[Graded exercise therapy]] (GET) / Graded Activity Therapy<ref name=":1" /><ref name="canadianconsensus-CCC" />
*Certain [[Analgesic|Pain killers]]
*Certain [[Analgesic|Pain killers]]



Revision as of 21:54, January 22, 2022

Cognitive dysfunction is a required symptom in most diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS; some patients call it "brain fog".[1][2] It is also a common symptom of fibromyalgia and patients refer to it as "fibro fog."[3]

Cognitive dysfunction in ME/CFS can take many different forms. Cognitive issues commonly observed in ME/CFS include attention deficit, auditory sequencing problems, brain fog, concentration problems, difficulty comprehending social cues, dyscalculia, dyslexia, executive function problems, linguistics reversals, memory loss, multi-tasking problems, planning problems, receptive language problems, slowed thought, spatial disorientation, word-finding problems,[citation needed] cognitive overload, slow processing of information and poor working memory.[4]

A 2016 study found that IQ scores of adolescents with CFS tested lower than the IQ scores of healthy peers with an equivalent school level. Currently it is not known whether lower IQ outcomes are due to concentration problems, a lowered processing speed or the illness itself.[5]

Exercise and cognitive dysfunction[edit | edit source]

A healthy person becomes more alert after exercise, but people with ME/CFS find their cognitive difficulties increase, they become much slower at mental activities, and cognitive tasks seem to take extra effort.[4]

Prevalence[edit | edit source]

Symptom recognition[edit | edit source]

Mandatory ME/CFS symptom

Cognitive dysfunction is a mandatory diagnostic symptom for ME/CFS with the Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC).[6]

Optional ME/CFS symptom

Cognitive dysfunction is an optional symptom in Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease (SEID) diagnostic criteria[7] and the International Consensus Criteria (ICC) for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).[8]

Other causes:
Cognitive dysfunction is also is one of the most common Long COVID symptoms[9] and can also be caused by Post-Viral Fatigue, which results from a virus.

Diagnosis[edit | edit source]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

  • 2001, Neuropsychological functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome: a review - (Abstract)[11]
  • 2006, Cognitive dysfunction relates to subjective report of mental fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome[12] - (Full text)
  • 2015, Less efficient and costly processes of frontal cortex in childhood chronic fatigue syndrome[13] - (Full Text)
  • 2016, Cognitive Dysfunction in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: a Review of Recent Evidence[14] - (Abstract)
  • 2016, The impact of chronic fatigue syndrome on cognitive functioning in adolescents[5] - (Full text)
  • 2016, qEEG / LORETA in Assessment of Neurocognitive Impairment in a Patient with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case Report[15] - (Full text)

Our case study confirmed the pattern of dysregulation in the cortex reviewed in the introduction. Furthermore, since both periods of phase shift/lock durations were found to be significantly shorter, that might contribute to an increased rate of phase reset, also seen in our data. Phase reset deregulation--phase locking periods being too brief and phase reset happening too often—appear to be consistent with the associated lower rate of information processing and reaction times found in the ME and CFS literature. These deregulated states represent the brain during nonoptimal functioning, rendering it inefficient for most types of information processing functioning, whether it is executive functioning, memory, perceptual reasoning or information processing speed. When phase lock is significantly less than normal, as in this data set, the ability of the brain to sustain commitment of resources to mediate different functions is severely compromised. Phase shift duration in this data is also hypoactive, meaning that significantly less neurons are being recruited to perform a function than normal. The results here indicate slowed verbal comprehension, executive functions, perceptual reasoning, processing speed and memory, the sum total of which is known as cognitive impairment.[15]

Figure 1: Results of LORETA current source density in a case with CFS showing widespread decreased current density for delta at 2 Hz and beta (12- 15 Hz) demonstrating a global reduction in brain functioning (blue). The higher frequencies (beta) have been shown to be a function of delta frequencies. In other words, local oscillations are under constant influence of global brain dynamics (Buzsaki, 2006).[15]

Possible causes[edit | edit source]

Mady Hornig has found evidence in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of ME/CFS patients that may explain their cognitive dysfunction.[16]

Cognitive dysfunction can be caused or made worse by other health conditions, most of which should be ruled out or identified during diagnostic process for ME/CFS:

Potential treatments[edit | edit source]

Drugs, supplements and other treatments that have been suggested for improving brain fog:

Drugs, supplements or interventions that may cause cognitive problems:

Learn more[edit | edit source]

Brian Vastag was able to prove with qEEG and cognitive tests he had "significant problems with visual perception and analysis, scanning speed, attention, visual motor coordination, motor and mental speed, memory, and verbal fluency" winning his long term disability (LTD) claim.[23]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Jason, Leonard A.; Sunnquist, Madison; Brown, Abigail; Evans, Meredyth; Vernon, Suzanne D.; Furst, Jacob D.; Simonis, Valerie (2014), "Examining case definition criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis", Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior, 2 (1): 40-56, doi:10.1080/21641846.2013.862993
  2. Kingdon, Caroline; Giotas, Dionysius; Nacul, Luis; Lacerda, Eliana (September 2020). "Health Care Responsibility and Compassion-Visiting the Housebound Patient Severely Affected by ME/CFS". Healthcare. 8 (3): 197. doi:10.3390/healthcare8030197. PMC 7551603. PMID 32635535.
  3. Kravitz, Howard M.; Katz, Robert S. (July 1, 2015). "Fibrofog and fibromyalgia: a narrative review and implications for clinical practice". Rheumatology International. 35 (7): 1115–1125. doi:10.1007/s00296-014-3208-7. ISSN 1437-160X.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Carruthers, Bruce M.; van de Sande, Marjorie I.; De Meirleir, Kenny L.; Klimas, Nancy G.; Broderick, Gordon; Mitchell, Terry; Staines, Donald; Powles, A. C. Peter; Speight, Nigel; Vallings, Rosamund; Bateman, Lucinda; Baumgarten-Austrheim, Barbara; Bell, David; Carlo-Stella, Nicoletta; Chia, John; Darragh, Austin; Jo, Daehyun; Lewis, Donald; Light, Alan; Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya; Mena, Ismael; Mikovits, Judy; Miwa, Kunihisa; Murovska, Modra; Pall, Martin; Stevens, Staci (August 22, 2011). "Myalgic encephalomyelitis: International Consensus Criteria". Journal of Internal Medicine. 270 (4): 327–338. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2796.2011.02428.x. ISSN 0954-6820. PMC 3427890. PMID 21777306.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Nijhof, Linde N.; Nijhof, Sanne L.; Bleijenberg, Gijs; Stellato, Rebecca K.; Kimpen, Jan L. L.; Pol, Hilleke E. Hulshoff; van de Putte, Elise M.; E (February 2016). "The impact of chronic fatigue syndrome on cognitive functioning in adolescents". European Journal of Pediatrics. 175 (2): 245–252. doi:10.1007/s00431-015-2626-1. ISSN 0340-6199. PMC 4724362. PMID 26334394.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Carruthers, Bruce M.; Jain, Anil Kumar; De Meirleir, Kenny L.; Peterson, Daniel L.; Klimas, Nancy G.; Lerner, A. Martin; Bested, Alison C.; Flor-Henry, Pierre; Joshi, Pradip; Powles, A C Peter; Sherkey, Jeffrey A.; van de Sande, Marjorie I. (2003), "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Clinical Working Case Definition, Diagnostic and Treatment Protocols" (PDF), Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, 11 (2): 7-115, doi:10.1300/J092v11n01_02
  7. "IOM 2015 Diagnostic Criteria | Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Centers for Disease Control. January 27, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  8. Carruthers, BM; van de Sande, MI; De Meirleir, KL; Klimas, NG; Broderick, G; Mitchell, T; Staines, D; Powles, ACP; Speight, N; Vallings, R; Bateman, L; Bell, DS; Carlo-Stella, N; Chia, J; Darragh, A; Gerken, A; Jo, D; Lewis, DP; Light, AR; Light, KC; Marshall-Gradisnik, S; McLaren-Howard, J; Mena, I; Miwa, K; Murovska, M; Stevens, SR (2012), Myalgic encephalomyelitis: Adult & Paediatric: International Consensus Primer for Medical Practitioners (PDF), ISBN 978-0-9739335-3-6
  9. Soriano, Joan B.; Allan, Maya; Alsokhn, Carine; Alwan, Nisreen A.; Askie, Lisa; Davis, Hannah E.; Diaz, Janet V.; Dua, Tarun; de Groote, Wouter; Jakob, Robert; Lado, Marta; Marshall, John; Murthy, Srin; Preller, Jacobus; Relan, Pryanka; Schiess, Nicoline; Seahwag, Archana (October 6, 2021), A clinical case definition of post COVID-19 condition by a Delphi consensus, World Health Organization (WHO) clinical case definition working group on post COVID-19 condition, World Health Organization
  10. Arnold, Amy (February 3, 2016). "Cognitive Dysfunction and "Brain Fog" in POTS | The Dysautonomia Dispatch". Dysautonomia International. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  11. Michiels, V.; Cluydts, R. (2001). "Neuropsychological functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome: a review". Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 103 (2): 84–93. ISSN 0001-690X. PMID 11167310.
  12. Capuron, Lucile; Welberg, Leonie; Heim, Christine; Wagner, Dieter; Solomon, Laura; Papanicolaou, Dimitris A; Craddock, R Cameron; Miller, Andrew H; Reeves, William C (2006), "Cognitive Dysfunction Relates to Subjective Report of Mental Fatigue in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", Neuropsychopharmacology, 31: 1777–1784, doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1301005
  13. Mizuno, Kei; Tanaka, Masaaki; Tanabe, Hiroki C.; Joudoi, Takako; Kawatani, Junko; Shigihara, Yoshihito; Tomoda, Akemi; Miike, Teruhisa; Imai-Matsumura, Kyoko (September 10, 2015). "Less efficient and costly processes of frontal cortex in childhood chronic fatigue syndrome". NeuroImage : Clinical. 9: 355–368. doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2015.09.001. ISSN 2213-1582. PMID 26594619.
  14. Cvejic, Erin; Birch, Rachael C.; Vollmer-Conna, Uté (May 2016). "Cognitive Dysfunction in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: a Review of Recent Evidence". Current Rheumatology Reports. 18 (5): 24. doi:10.1007/s11926-016-0577-9. ISSN 1523-3774.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Zinn, ML; Zinn, Mark A.; Jason, Leonard (2016). "qEEG / LORETA in Assessment of Neurocognitive Impairment in a Patient with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case Report". www.sciforschenonline.org. SciForschen. doi:10.16966/2469-6714.110. ISSN 2469-6714. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  16. Hornig, M; Gottschalk, G; Peterson, D; Knox, KK; Schultz, AF; Eddy, ML; Che, X; Lipkin, WI (2016), "Cytokine network analysis of cerebrospinal fluid in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.", Molecular Psychiatry, 21 (2): 261-9, doi:10.1038/mp.2015.29
  17. "Reasons You May Have Brain Fog". WebMD. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 18.9 Collatz, Ansel; Johnston, Samantha C.; Staines, Donald R.; Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya M. (June 2016). "A Systematic Review of Drug Therapies for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis". Clinical Therapeutics. 38 (6): 1263–1271.e9. doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2016.04.038. ISSN 1879-114X. PMID 27229907.
  19. Valdizán Usón, José Ramón; Idiazábal Alecha, María Ángeles (June 1, 2008). "Diagnostic and treatment challenges of chronic fatigue syndrome: role of immediate-release methylphenidate". Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 8 (6): 917–927. doi:10.1586/14737175.8.6.917. ISSN 1473-7175.
  20. "Dr. Gudrun Lange Reviews Neuropsychological Testing for CFS and FM". www.massmecfs.org. November 20, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  21. M, Beth (February 7, 2016). "Case Study: "Brain Fog" in CFS can be seen in qEEG/Loreta - #MEAction". #MEAction. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  22. Pena, Amy (March 21, 2018). "Fibromyalgia Study Identifies Main Types of Patients' Cognitive Dysfunction". Fibromyalgia News Today. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Tillman, Adriane (June 4, 2018). "Victory for ME Disability Claim - U.S. Court Upholds Plaintiff's Lawsuit After Being Denied Disability". #MEAction. Retrieved February 2, 2019.