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Cited by 52Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ResearchAdvanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

Basal ganglia correlates of fatigue in young adults

Open access
Nakagawa, Seishu, Takeuchi, Hikaru, Taki, Yasuyuki, Nouchi, Rui, Kotozaki, Yuka, Shinada, Takamitsu, Maruyama, Tsukasa, Sekiguchi, Atsushi +11 more·2016·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/srep21386PMC PMC4759547
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Abstract

Although the prevalence of chronic fatigue is approximately 20% in healthy individuals, there are no studies of brain structure that elucidate the neural correlates of fatigue outside of clinical subjects. We hypothesized that fatigue without evidence of disease might be related to changes in the basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex and be implicated in fatigue with disease. We aimed to identify the white matter structures of fatigue in young subjects without disease using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Healthy young adults (n = 883; 489 males and 394 females) were recruited. As expected, the degrees of fatigue and motivation were associated with larger mean diffusivity (MD) in the right putamen, pallidus and caudate. Furthermore, the degree of physical activity was associated with a larger MD only in the right putamen. Accordingly, motivation was the best candidate for widespread basal ganglia, whereas physical activity might be the best candidate for the putamen. A plausible mechanism of fatigue may involve abnormal function of the motor system, as well as areas of the dopaminergic system in the basal ganglia that are associated with motivation and reward.

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  • Activity in certain basal ganglionic areas has been correlated with motivation versus physical fatigue, namely widespread throughout the basal ganglia in the former and in the putamen for the latter.

    “Further, activity in certain basal ganglionic areas has been correlated with motivation versus physical fatigue, namely widespread throughout the basal ganglia in the former and in the putamen for the latter.27”

    From A Review of Movement and Functional Impairments in Fibromyalgia: Implications for Targeted Treatment (2025) · cites this paper as [27]

    The Results (MRI data; page unavailable) report that motivation scores correlated with mean diffusivity across the right putamen, pallidum and caudate, while physical-activity scores correlated with mean diffusivity only in the right putamen. This supports the regional distinction, but the study measured a structural MRI property, not basal-ganglia activity, and assessed physical activity rather than physical fatigue. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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Authors
Nakagawa, S., Takeuchi, H., Taki, Y., Nouchi, R., Kotozaki, Y., Shinada, T., Maruyama, T., Sekiguchi, A., Iizuka, K., Yokoyama, R., Yamamoto, Y., Hanawa, S., Araki, T., Miyauchi, C. M., Magistro, D., Sakaki, K., Jeong, H., Sasaki, Y., & Kawashima, R.
Affiliations
Tohoku University (JP)
Corresponding author
Nakagawa, Seishu
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2016-02-19
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
21386-21386
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/srep21386
PMC
PMC4759547
OpenAlex
W2276401059
Cited by
52
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2
FWCI
4.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (23700306, 25700012, CREST)
  • Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (KAKENHI 23700306, 25700012, 23700306)
  • Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (KAKENHI 23700306, 25700012)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords
chronic fatigue, basal ganglia, white matter microstructure, mean diffusivity, putamen, globus pallidus, caudate nucleus, motivation, physical activity, young adults, dopaminergic system, reward, prefrontal cortex
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Basal Ganglia, Fatigue, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motivation, Sex Factors, Young Adult

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