Aberrant recruitment of the striatum and insula is associated with recalling and suppressing fatigue- and anger-related memories in people with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis

TY - JOUR

T1 - Aberrant recruitment of the striatum and insula is associated with recalling and suppressing fatigue- and anger-related memories in people with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis

AU - Rimes, Katharine A

AU - Giampietro, Vincent

AU - Chalder, Trudie

AU - Zahn, Roland

AU - Simmons, Andrew

AU - Fallon, Sean James

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - Abstract Research suggests that people with chronic fatigue syndrome tend to suppress emotions more than healthy individuals. However, whether there are also changes in the neural substrates of emotional regulation in people with chronic fatigue syndrome remain unexplored. Specifically, it is unclear whether there is a neural delineation in how fatigue and anger-related memories are recalled or supressed in people with chronic fatigue syndrome. This study investigated this hypothesis using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We compared blood oxygen level-dependent signal changes between people with chronic fatigue syndrome (N = 20) and matched controls (N = 20) during a novel task that involved the recall or suppression of fatigue (or anger-related memories). The results revealed a dissociation in the contribution of striatal subregions and the insula when recalling and suppressing anger and fatigue-related memories according to diagnostic status. Principally, patients showed higher blood oxygen level-dependent signal in the left and right rostral caudate during the suppression of fatigue and anger-related memories, respectively. Different patterns were also observed in the way each group recruited the posterior putamen when recalling (or suppressing) anger or fatigue-related memories. In contrast to its prominent suppression in striatal regions, blood oxygen level-dependent signal in the insula was increased in the patient group during the active recall of anger or fatigue-related memories. Cumulatively, these results reveal that chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with demonstrable, physiological changes in the way emotional information is processed and implicate the rostral caudate and insula as targets for further investigation.

AB - Abstract Research suggests that people with chronic fatigue syndrome tend to suppress emotions more than healthy individuals. However, whether there are also changes in the neural substrates of emotional regulation in people with chronic fatigue syndrome remain unexplored. Specifically, it is unclear whether there is a neural delineation in how fatigue and anger-related memories are recalled or supressed in people with chronic fatigue syndrome. This study investigated this hypothesis using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We compared blood oxygen level-dependent signal changes between people with chronic fatigue syndrome (N = 20) and matched controls (N = 20) during a novel task that involved the recall or suppression of fatigue (or anger-related memories). The results revealed a dissociation in the contribution of striatal subregions and the insula when recalling and suppressing anger and fatigue-related memories according to diagnostic status. Principally, patients showed higher blood oxygen level-dependent signal in the left and right rostral caudate during the suppression of fatigue and anger-related memories, respectively. Different patterns were also observed in the way each group recruited the posterior putamen when recalling (or suppressing) anger or fatigue-related memories. In contrast to its prominent suppression in striatal regions, blood oxygen level-dependent signal in the insula was increased in the patient group during the active recall of anger or fatigue-related memories. Cumulatively, these results reveal that chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with demonstrable, physiological changes in the way emotional information is processed and implicate the rostral caudate and insula as targets for further investigation.

KW - chronic fatigue syndrome/Myalgic encphalomyelitis

KW - fatigue

KW - functional magnetic resonance imaging

KW - insula

KW - striatum

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105035241056

U2 - 10.1093/braincomms/fcag101

DO - 10.1093/braincomms/fcag101

M3 - Article

C2 - 41940184

SN - 2632-1297

VL - 8

JO - Brain Communications

JF - Brain Communications

IS - 2

M1 - fcag101

ER -