Marcie Zinn

Marcie Lynn Zinn Ph.D. (May 6, 1951- Dec 28, 2019) was a research psychologist in Psychophysiology, Rehabilitation, Cognitive Neuroscience and Data Science conducting myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) research with her husband, Mark Zinn, at their nonprofit, the Neurocognitive Research Institute. Dr Zinn's research interests included the study of brain dysfunction in chronic disease, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.). Marcie and her husband, Mark Zinn, also founded the NeuroCognitive Research Institute. Marcie Zinn passed away suddenly from sudden heart failure while working to establish the NeuroCognitive Research Institute.

Dr Zinn's early research and career interests were in Performance Neuroscience and Psychology, but after being diagnosed in 2009 with herpes viral encephalitis which developed into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, her interest turned toward using her extensive qEEG and neuroscience skills for research in M.E.. Under the leadership of Dr. Jose Montoya, she conducted a pilot study to look at cognitive dysfunction using qEEG methods. While continuing to collaborate with Jose Montoya at Stanford, she and her husband Mark published research using brain network modeling in the study of M.E. brain dysfunction.

ME/CFS Common Data Element (CDE) Project

Marcie Zinn was a member of the Pain Working Group and the Neurologic/Cognitive/CNS Imaging Working Group of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Common Data Element (CDE) Project sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Advocacy

• Dr. Zinn signed the second and third open letters to the editor of The Lancet urging the editor to commission a fully independent review of the PACE trial, which the journal published in 2011.
• Feb 10, 2016, An open letter to The Lancet, again - Virology blog
• Jun 19, 2018, Trial By Error: An Open Letter to The Lancet, Two Years On - Virology blog

Notable studies

• June, 2004: Development of a Self-Report Inventory to Assess Cognitive Dysfunction in Musicians. ProQuest Information and Learning Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• March, 2005: The Hippocampus in Music Learning and Performance (March, 2005). Presentation at the annual Brain Awareness Week event sponsored by Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Dublin, CA.
• Mar 2014, Cortical hypoactivation during resting eLORETA suggests central nervous system pathology in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (Conference paper, 2014 Stanford Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symposium: Advances in Clinical Care and Translational Research for health care providers, Stanford School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA - (Abstract - full text on request)
• Mar 2014,  EEG peak alpha frequency is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome: a case-control observational study. Invited presentation at the 2014 Stanford Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symposium : Advances in Clinical Care and Translational Research; March 19, 2014, Stanford University Dept. of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA.   
• 2015, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: Symptoms and Biomarkers - (Full Text)
• 2015,  Zinn, M.L. & Zinn, M.A. Psychophysiology for Performing Artists. In M. S. Schwartz & F. Andrasik, Eds: Biofeedback: A Practitioners Guide (4th ed.), New York: Guilford.
• 2016, Intrinsic Functional Hypoconnectivity in Core Neurocognitive Networks Suggests Central Nervous System Pathology in Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: A Pilot Study - (Full Text)
• 2016, qEEG / LORETA in Assessment of Neurocognitive Impairment in a Patient with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case Report - (Full Text)
• 2016, Functional Neural Network Connectivity in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - (Full Text)
• 2017, Small-world network analysis of cortical connectivity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome using quantitative EEG - (Full Text)
• 2018, Cortical hypoactivation during resting EEG suggests central nervous system pathology in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome - (Abstract)

Talks and interviews

• 2016, "qEEG LORETA CFS Case study - Sci Forschen Inc."

Online presence

• PubMed
• ResearchGate
• LinkedIn

Learn more

• Meet the Scientist: Central Autonomic Network Disturbance in people with ME/CFS | A conversation with Dr. Mark Zinn (p. 12-13)
• "Marcie Zinn Ph.D., NCTM" bio
• NeuroCognitive Research Institute

See also

• Mark Zinn
• eLORETA

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.

See myalgic encephalomyelitis.

See chronic fatigue syndrome.

a disease or condition that usually lasts for 3 months or longer and may get worse over time. Chronic diseases are long-term (typically incurable and requiring long-term management) but are not necessarily severe.

chronic disease a disease or condition that usually lasts for 3 months or longer and may get worse over time. Chronic diseases are long-term (typically incurable and requiring long-term management) but are not necessarily severe.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.

central nervous system (CNS) - One of the two parts of the human nervous system, the other part being the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that travel from the central nervous system into the various organs and tissues of the body.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

hippocampus The hippocampus consists of gray matter deep in the temporal lobe of the brain. Very important for forming long-term memories. Plural: hippocampi.

central nervous system (CNS) - One of the two parts of the human nervous system, the other part being the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that travel from the central nervous system into the various organs and tissues of the body.

central nervous system (CNS) - One of the two parts of the human nervous system, the other part being the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that travel from the central nervous system into the various organs and tissues of the body.

See National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) - A set of biomedical research institutes operated by the U.S. government, under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services.