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Predicting Potential Treatment Targets for Fatigue in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Using Thalamic Seeding.
Kang Wu1,2, Tian Zhou1,2, Zhuoran Li3
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Intelligent Drug Research and Development for Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
This study identifies a specific brain region in the left lateral occipital cortex associated with fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). This finding offers a potential target for non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) to treat CFS neurological disorder.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex neurological disorder.
- Functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities are linked to CFS fatigue.
- Cortical targets for non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) in CFS are not well-defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- Identify specific cortical targets for NIBS in CFS patients.
- Investigate the relationship between thalamic functional connectivity and fatigue severity.
- Determine if identified targets are suitable for therapeutic interventions.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 100 CFS patients and 100 healthy controls (HC).
- Generated FC maps using bilateral thalamic seeding.
- Employed normative and individual analyses to identify stimulation targets.
- Utilized finite element analysis (FEA) to predict NIBS influence.
- Examined FC changes and fatigue severity in a longitudinal Tai Chi exercise dataset.
Main Results:
- Normative analysis revealed a significant negative FC peak in the left lateral occipital cortex (MNI: -51.0, -77.5, 7.0).
- This FC peak correlated with fatigue severity and exercise-induced fatigue reduction.
- Individual analysis showed high spatial variability and inconsistent fatigue associations.
Conclusions:
- Thalamic-surface FC alterations are linked to fatigue in CFS.
- Normative analysis provides a viable framework for identifying NIBS targets.
- The left lateral occipital cortex is a potential candidate for NIBS in CFS treatment.
