RESEARCH ON COGNITIVE COMPLAINTS AND COGNITIVE-FUNCTIONING IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS) - WHAT CONCLUSIONS CAN WE DRAW

People with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) complain of difficulties wi th concentration and memory yet studies suggest that they do not suffe r gross deficits in cognitive functioning. Depressed patients make sim ilar cognitive complaints, and there is symptomatic overlap between CF S and depression. Cognitive complaints and depressed mood are positive ly correlated in CFS patients but, except on tasks which are particula rly sensitive to depression, cognitive performance and depression are not. The inconsistency between cognitive complaints and results of tes ts of cognitive functioning resembles that found in other subject grou ps and may be due in part to the inappropriate use of laboratory memor y tests for assessing ''everyday'' cognitive functioning. Even when co gnitive capacity is intact, cognitive performance may be affected by f actors such as arousal, mood, and strategy. In CFS patients, everyday cognitive tasks may require excessive processing resources leaving pat ients with diminished spare attentional capacity or flexibility.