Departments of Physiology/Medicine, Center for Hypotension, New York Medical College Valhalla, NY, USA.
Front Physiol. 2013 Apr 5;4:63. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2013.00063. eCollection 2013.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is defined as greater than 6 months of persistent fatigue that is experienced physically and cognitively. The cognitive symptoms are generally thought to be a mild cognitive impairment, but individuals with CFS subjectively describe them as "brain fog." The impairment is not fully understood and often is described as slow thinking, difficulty focusing, confusion, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, or a haziness in thought processes. Causes of "brain fog" and mild cognitive impairment have been investigated. Possible physiological correlates may be due to the effects of chronic orthostatic intolerance (OI) in the form of the Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and decreases in cerebral blood flow (CBF). In addition, fMRI studies suggest that individuals with CFS may require increased cortical and subcortical brain activation to complete difficult mental tasks. Furthermore, neurocognitive testing in CFS has demonstrated deficits in speed and efficiency of information processing, attention, concentration, and working memory. The cognitive impairments are then perceived as an exaggerated mental fatigue. As a whole, this is experienced by those with CFS as "brain fog" and may be viewed as the interaction of physiological, cognitive, and perceptual factors. Thus, the cognitive symptoms of CFS may be due to altered CBF activation and regulation that are exacerbated by a stressor, such as orthostasis or a difficult mental task, resulting in the decreased ability to readily process information, which is then perceived as fatiguing and experienced as "brain fog." Future research looks to further explore these interactions, how they produce cognitive impairments, and explain the perception of "brain fog" from a mechanistic standpoint.
慢性疲劳综合征(CFS)定义为持续超过 6 个月的身体和认知疲劳。一般认为认知症状是轻度认知障碍,但 CFS 患者主观上描述为“脑雾”。这种损害尚未完全理解,通常表现为思维缓慢、难以集中注意力、困惑、注意力不集中、健忘或思维过程模糊。已经研究了“脑雾”和轻度认知障碍的原因。可能的生理相关性可能是由于慢性直立不耐受(OI)以体位性心动过速综合征(POTS)的形式和脑血流量(CBF)减少的影响。此外, fMRI 研究表明,CFS 患者可能需要增加皮质和皮质下大脑活动来完成困难的心理任务。此外,CFS 的神经认知测试显示信息处理、注意力、集中力和工作记忆的速度和效率存在缺陷。然后,认知障碍被感知为过度的精神疲劳。总的来说,这是 CFS 患者的“脑雾”,可能被视为生理、认知和感知因素的相互作用。因此,CFS 的认知症状可能是由于 CBF 激活和调节的改变,这些改变被直立或困难的心理任务等应激源加剧,导致信息处理能力下降,然后被感知为疲劳,并被体验为“脑雾”。未来的研究旨在进一步探索这些相互作用,它们如何产生认知障碍,并从机制角度解释“脑雾”的感知。
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