Decreased basal ganglia activation in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome subjects is associated with increased fatigue

ObjectivesConduct a functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) study using a monetary win-lose gambling task that strongly activates basal ganglia to test hypothesis of decreased basal ganglia function in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). MethodsParticipants included 18 CFS subjects (1994 case definition) and 41 non-fatigued controls matched on age, sex and race who were free of psychotropic medications and significant depression (Zung Depression score <60). The general activation pattern for win-lose contrast across all subjects was determined. The resulting statistical parametric brain map thresholded at p<0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons, was intersected with basal ganglia regions of interest (ROIs). For each subject, the average value of win-lose activation contrast in each ROI was extracted. ResultsCFS subjects showed decreased right caudate (p=0.01) and right globus pallidus (p=0.02) activation compared to controls. The decreased globus pallidus activation correlated with increased mental fatigue (r...