Neuropsychological functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome

Although chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients frequently report cognitive impairment, no consensus exists as to the nature or extent of any possible neuropsychological deficits associated with CFS. This study compared the performance on measures of memory, attention, reaction time and verbal fluency of seventeen CFS patients to those of nineteen healthy controls matched for age, gender, educational level and estimated IQ. The study's aims were to determine whether specific cognitive deficits could be identified in CFS patients, and to evaluate various hypotheses concerning possible underlying bases for patients' reports of cognitive impairment in CFS. On the cognitive measures, the only significant differences obtained between the two groups were on some measures of a divided attention task. I discuss the possibility that the cognitive deficits in CFS may be of a more subtle or diffuse nature than has been generally tested for, as well as other possible reasons for the lack of consistent findings in this area.