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a Edinburgh University
Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh EH10 5HF,
UK, b Oxford University Department of Psychiatry,
Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
Correspondence to: Dr S M Lawrie, Edinburgh University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh EH10 5HF, UK. Telephone 0044 131 537 6671; fax 0044 131 447 6860; email S.Lawrie{at}ed.ac.uk
Received 8 August
1997 and in revised form 26 November 1997;
Accepted 9
December 1997
OBJECTIVES
Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
complain of physical and mental fatigue that is worsened by exertion.
It was predicted that the cognitive and motor responses to vigorous
exercise in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome would differ from
those in depressed and healthy controls.
METHODSTen patients with chronic fatigue
syndrome, 10 with depressive illness, and 10 healthy controls completed
cognitive and muscle strength testing before and after a treadmill
exercise test. Measures of cardiovascular functioning and perceived
effort, fatigue, and mood were taken during each stage of testing.
RESULTSDepressed patients performed worst on
cognitive tests at baseline. During the treadmill test, patients with
chronic fatigue syndrome had higher ratings of perceived effort and
fatigue than both control groups, whereas patients with depression
reported lower mood. After exertion, patients with chronic fatigue
syndrome showed a greater decrease than healthy controls on everyday
tests of focused (p=0.02) and sustained (p=0.001) attention, as well as
greater deterioration than depressed patients on the focused attention
task (p=0.03). No between group differences were found in
cardiovascular or symptom measures taken during the cognitive testing.
CONCLUSIONSPatients with chronic fatigue syndrome
show a specific sensitivity to the effects of exertion on effortful
cognitive functioning. This occurs despite subjective and objective
evidence of effort allocation in chronic fatigue syndrome, suggesting
that patients have reduced working memory capacity, or a greater demand
to monitor cognitive processes, or both. Further insight into the
pathophysiology of the core complaints in chronic fatigue syndrome is
likely to be realised by studying the effects of exercise on other
aspects of everyday functioning.
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  B. Van Houdenhove, L. Verheyen, K. Pardaens, P. Luyten, and P. Van Wambeke Rehabilitation of decreased motor performance in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: should we treat low effort capacity or reduced effort tolerance? Clinical Rehabilitation, December 1, 2007; 21(12): 1121 - 1142. [Abstract] [PDF]
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 J. J. LaManca, A. Peckerman, S. A. Sisto, J. DeLuca, S. Cook, and B. H. Natelson Cardiovascular Responses of Women With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to Stressful Cognitive Testing Before and After Strenuous Exercise Psychosom Med, September 1, 2001; 63(5): 756 - 764. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 K. Y Fulcher and P. D White Strength and physiological response to exercise in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, September 1, 2000; 69(3): 302 - 307. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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