Question

I know several people with ME who, despite having considerable problems with cognitive function, send me long complicated emails – sometimes accompanied by capital letters and underlining to emphasise the points they are making!

Is this more common in people who have ME?

Answer

That's a very interesting question because it's something that I discussed many years ago with the late Professor Peter Behan – the very distinguished neurologist who had noted that this appeared to be an interesting and unusual feature in some people with ME/CFS.

There is now a medical name for excessive use of words in communications – hypergraphia – and we know that several regions of the brain are involved in the act of written composition. These include the superior parietal cortex as well as motor control areas in the frontal lobe and cerebellum.

So it’s not surprising to find that hypergraphia is something that is reported in several neurological conditions – temporal lobe epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease in particular.

While there's no evidence that these neurological conditions are linked to ME/CFS, this does suggest that there is a word-processing problem in parts of the brain that are involved in production of the written word in people with ME/CFS who have hypergraphia.

SEE MORE: Symptoms: Cognitive Dysfunction, Symptoms: Slurred Speech (Dysarthria)

More Information:

• ME Association Booklet: Neurological – Is ME/CFS a Neurological Disease?