Kessler Foundation neuroimaging study reveals fatigue-related differences by age and gender

male scientist at Kessler Foundation
Dr. Wylie serves as director of the Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation. He is also a research scientist at The Department of Veterans’ Affairs War-related Injury and Illness Study Center in the VA New Jersey Healthcare System.

Study reveals new information on responses of healthy men and women ages 20 to 63 to state and trait fatigue 

East Hanover, NJ. August 5, 2022. To study the relationship between age and fatigue, Kessler Foundation researchers conducted a novel study using neuroimaging and self-report data. Their findings were published online on May 9, 2022, in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in the open access article, “Fatigue across the lifespan in men and women: State vs. trait ” (doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.790006).

The authors are Glenn Wylie, DPhil, Amanda Pra Sisto, Helen M. Genova, PhD, and John DeLuca, PhD, of Kessler Foundation. All have faculty appointments at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Wylie is also a research scientist at The Department of Veterans’ Affairs War-related Injury and Illness Study Center at the New Jersey Healthcare System.

Their study is the first to report the effects of gender and age on both ‘state’ and ‘trait’ fatigue, and the first to report fatigue-related differences in brain activation across the lifespan and across gender during a cognitively fatiguing task.  “State” measure of fatigue assesses a subject’s instantaneous experience of fatigue at the time of testing; “trait” measure of fatigue assesses how much fatigue a subject experienced over a longer period of time, such as the previous four weeks.

Researchers collected data on trait fatigue and state fatigue from 43 healthy men and women aged 20 to 63 years. State fatigue was measured during fMRI scans while participants performed a cognitively challenging task. The study was conducted at the Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation, a specialized facility dedicated solely to rehabilitation research. They found that older individuals reported less state fatigue.

Dr. Wylie, director of the Ortenzio Center, commented: “Our neuroimaging data show that the role of middle frontal areas of the brain changes with age. Younger individuals may use these areas to combat fatigue, but this is not the case with older individuals. Moreover, these results suggest that women show greater resilience when faced with a fatiguing task.

“This study is an important first step toward explaining some of the differences reported in the literature of fatigue, by showing that state and trait measures of fatigue measure different aspects of fatigue, and that age and gender both appear to affect the relationship between state fatigue and brain activation,” Dr. Wyle concluded.

Funding: National MS Society (RG 4232A1), New Jersey Commission for Brain Injury Research (10.005.BIR1), Department of Veterans’ Affairs (5I01CX000893), and Kessler Foundation
Learn more about ongoing studies at Kessler Foundation at Join Our Research Studies | Kessler Foundation


About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, founded in 1985, is a New Jersey-based nonprofit and global leader in rehabilitation research committed to changing the lives of people with disabilities. By conducting groundbreaking research, Kessler Foundation advances recovery and fosters independence to build a more inclusive and accessible world.

Its team of award-winning scientists develop and test novel interventions to transform care and optimize mobility, cognition, and quality of life for people with traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, autism, and other neurological and developmental disabilities. By analyzing community and workforce participation, developing evidence-based solutions, and funding impactful community initiatives that expand employment opportunities, Kessler Foundation also addresses barriers to inclusion for people with disabilities.

Powered by a dedicated team of over 200 professionals funded by federal and state grants and private philanthropy, Kessler Foundation is redefining what is possible in rehabilitation care and recovery.

For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.

For more information, contact:
Michele Pignatello, Michele Pignatello

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