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People with chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis show higher levels of brain neuroinflammation, according to a new study.

The latest study compared chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis patients to healthy controls.

Scientists performed 11C-(R)-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-(1-methylpropyl)-3-isoquinoline-carboxamide (11C-(R)-PK11195) PET scans in nine CFS/ME patients and 10 healthy controls. Researchers said participants were also asked to fill out surveys about their fatigue, fatigue sensation, cognitive impairments, pain, and depression, according to HealthDay.

Lead researcher Yasuhito Nakatomi, M.D., from the Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan and colleagues found that binding potential (BPND) values in the cingulate cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, midbrain, and pons were 45 percent to 199 percent higher in chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis patients when compared to healthy people.

What's more, researchers linked BPND values of 11C-(R)-PK11195 in the amygdala, thalamus, and midbrain of chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis patients positively to cognitive impairment. The study also revealed a positive correlation between BPND values in the cingulate cortex and thalamus of chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis patients and pain score. They study also linked BPND value in the hippocampus with depression score.

"Neuroinflammation is present in widespread brain areas in CFS/ME patients, and was associated with the severity of neuropsychological symptoms," Nakatomi and colleagues wrote in the study.

The findings are published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.