This week a research team from Stanford published research findings on evaluating patients with CFS using of brain scanning procedures (Zeineh et al., 2014). The initial results are very interesting in that they could finally result in a biomarker for those with CFS.
The researchers note we should be cautious with the results as the study only involved 15 people, and will need to be replicated with a larger population before we can use this biomarker with any certainty. However it is a major step in the direction of quality diagnosis of this condition and provides support for the position long held by both most sufferers of this illness along with clinicians in the field like me, who identify CFS as a physical organic disease.
One of the conclusions that people also may be drawn towards is as there is now some evidence that there is detectable physical change in the brain, that it follows it would therefore be difficult to recover from this illness.
This however is not completely accurate: the modern neuroscience is now dominated by the exciting possibilities derived from new understandings of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to physically change its shape, volume and function depending on how it is being used- the more a pathway is used the faster it works, and the more developed it becomes- much like the way a track used by sheep in a field becomes very easy to see over time.
A series of studies involving brain scans of those practising meditation shows significant one-sided brain changes, of a similar type, but in different brain regions to those in the CFS study, in subjects who meditated compare to those who didn’t (Davidson, 2003). So the presence of brain changes in this illness are just as likely to be as a result of illness as the cause of it; time will tell as to which of these perspectives is most accurate. However in either case neuroplasticity once again comes to the sufferers rescue because once changes in the brain have occurred there is always the possibility of changing that portion of the brain back to how it was before or bringing in another portion of the brain to take over the function has been lost by area that no longer functions in the way it should do.
My work over the last two decades, and the work of the other clinicians in the field, in helping people who have been severely affected by neurological conditions including properly diagnosed CFS recover from this illness, supports the notion that this brain change, if indeed it is found in larger populations of people with CFS, can revert to normal function.
It would be fascinating to compare brain scans of those with CFS both before and after approaches such as the Lightning Process to learn more about what is going on in this and other areas of the brain.
And we certainly hope that researchers with access to such technology would be encouraged by these findings to join the other researchers who are investigating these new approaches in this field and add to the knowledge and evidence base to create even more successful interventions for the future.
Please leave a comment if you’ve found this useful, or if you have any questions,
all the best
Phil Parker,
Designer of the Lightning Process
Davidson, R. J. (2003). Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65(4), 564–570. doi:10.1097/01.PSY.0000077505.67574.E3
Zeineh, M. M., Kang, J., Atlas, S. W., Raman, M. M., Reiss, A. L., Norris, J. L., … Montoya, J. G. (2014). Right Arcuate Fasciculus Abnormality in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Radiology, 141079. doi:10.1148/radiol.14141079
