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Cognitive Functioning and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Chronic Fatigue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Helen Cope ,
Amanda Pernet ,
Brian Kendall  and
Anthony David
Helen Cope*
Affiliation:
Section of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Amanda Pernet
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Brian Kendall
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London
Anthony David
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry and King's College Hospital, London
*
Dr Helen Cope, Section of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
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Extract

Background

This study examines whether cognitive dysfunction in chronic fatigue may be accounted for by depression and anxiety or is due to brain pathology evident on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Method

Twenty-six subjects with chronic fatigue, with and without coexisting depression, and 18 age-matched normal controls were recruited from primary care following a presumed viral illness six months previously. Comparison was made with 13 psychiatric controls with depressive illness on standardised cognitive tests. MRI determined the presence of cerebral white-matter lesions.

Results

No substantial differences in performance were shown between subjects with chronic fatigue, most of whom met the criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome, and controls. Subjective cognitive dysfunction increased with psychopathology. White-matter lesions were found in a minority from all groups. Improvement in fatigue and depression coincided with improved performance on cognitive measures.

Conclusions

Subjective complaints of cognitive impairment are a prominent feature of chronic fatigue, but objective cognitive and MRI abnormalities are not. Such complaints probably reflect psychopathology rather than a post-viral process.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 167 , Issue 1 , July 1995 , pp. 86 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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