In 1917, the president of the American Psychological Association at that time, Raymond Dodge, wrote “I have no expectation that the laws of mental fatigue will be formulated in the immediate future”. Remarkably, despite continuous efforts over a period of more than 100 years, a mature theory of the origins and neural mechanisms of mental fatigue has yet to be achieved. Physical fatigue is defined as “the transient inability of muscles to maintain optimal physical performance, and is made more severe by intense physical exercise”. Mental fatigue could be phrased as “a transient decrease in maximal cognitive performance resulting from prolonged periods of cognitive activity”. Currently, the mechanism underlying mental fatigue is still yet to be discovered. Chronic fatigue is one of the symptoms that may occur in numerous chronic disorders, such as hypertension, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and heart fail.
Currently, there is no cure for ME/CFS. Chronic fatigue seems to be a relatively common, yet undertreated symptom. Presumably, increasing knowledge of physiological mechanisms underlying fatigue might potentially lead to an improvement in the efficacy of therapy for various disorders. Therefore, the goal of the current Research Topic is to collect papers on both physiology of fatigue as well as mechanism underlying pathologies, as ME/CFS. Also, papers on clinical trials involving subjects with chronic fatigue, or patients with ME/CFS are welcomed.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this Research Topic, all types of research (Descriptive, Correlational, Causal-Comparative/Quasi-Experimental, and Experimental Research) are welcome. The topic will accept a wide range of manuscript types: Original Research; Review; Meta-analysis; Policy and Practice Reviews; Hypothesis and Theory; Perspective; Clinical Trial; Case Report; Community Case Study; Conceptual Analysis; Data Report; Policy Brief; Brief Research Report; General Commentary; Opinion.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Current view on the role of the nervous system in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) etiology
- Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) disturbances in ME/CFS
- Pathological mechanism underlying PEM
- Non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments of ME/CFS
- Chronic fatigue as a symptom in chronic disorders: mechanism, non-pharmacological and/or pharmacological treatments
- Neural correlates of fatigue in healthy participants
- Brain and cognitive function in chronic fatigue
- Autonomic nervous system function in chronic fatigue
- Influence of sleep deprivation on nervous system and cognitive function
- Influence of aging on fatigue
- Influence of breathing techniques on Central Autonomic Network and ANS
- James-Lange vs. Cannon-Bard Theory on emotion, somatic marker hypothesis: the current grasp on those concepts in explanation of physiological fatigue as a quale
- An unifying approach to central and peripheral factors in the creation of mind perceptions/qualia: example of fatigue
- Machine learning/Artificial Intelligence application the study on qualia
In 1917, the president of the American Psychological Association at that time, Raymond Dodge, wrote “I have no expectation that the laws of mental fatigue will be formulated in the immediate future”. Remarkably, despite continuous efforts over a period of more than 100 years, a mature theory of the origins and neural mechanisms of mental fatigue has yet to be achieved. Physical fatigue is defined as “the transient inability of muscles to maintain optimal physical performance, and is made more severe by intense physical exercise”. Mental fatigue could be phrased as “a transient decrease in maximal cognitive performance resulting from prolonged periods of cognitive activity”. Currently, the mechanism underlying mental fatigue is still yet to be discovered. Chronic fatigue is one of the symptoms that may occur in numerous chronic disorders, such as hypertension, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and heart fail.
Currently, there is no cure for ME/CFS. Chronic fatigue seems to be a relatively common, yet undertreated symptom. Presumably, increasing knowledge of physiological mechanisms underlying fatigue might potentially lead to an improvement in the efficacy of therapy for various disorders. Therefore, the goal of the current Research Topic is to collect papers on both physiology of fatigue as well as mechanism underlying pathologies, as ME/CFS. Also, papers on clinical trials involving subjects with chronic fatigue, or patients with ME/CFS are welcomed.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this Research Topic, all types of research (Descriptive, Correlational, Causal-Comparative/Quasi-Experimental, and Experimental Research) are welcome. The topic will accept a wide range of manuscript types: Original Research; Review; Meta-analysis; Policy and Practice Reviews; Hypothesis and Theory; Perspective; Clinical Trial; Case Report; Community Case Study; Conceptual Analysis; Data Report; Policy Brief; Brief Research Report; General Commentary; Opinion.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Current view on the role of the nervous system in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) etiology
- Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) disturbances in ME/CFS
- Pathological mechanism underlying PEM
- Non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments of ME/CFS
- Chronic fatigue as a symptom in chronic disorders: mechanism, non-pharmacological and/or pharmacological treatments
- Neural correlates of fatigue in healthy participants
- Brain and cognitive function in chronic fatigue
- Autonomic nervous system function in chronic fatigue
- Influence of sleep deprivation on nervous system and cognitive function
- Influence of aging on fatigue
- Influence of breathing techniques on Central Autonomic Network and ANS
- James-Lange vs. Cannon-Bard Theory on emotion, somatic marker hypothesis: the current grasp on those concepts in explanation of physiological fatigue as a quale
- An unifying approach to central and peripheral factors in the creation of mind perceptions/qualia: example of fatigue
- Machine learning/Artificial Intelligence application the study on qualia
