Gray Matter Atrophy within the Default Mode Network of Fibromyalgia: A Meta-Analysis of Voxel-Based Morphometry Studies

Abstract

Over the years, studies have demonstrated morphological changes in the brain of fibromyalgia (FMS). We aimed to conduct a coordinate-based meta-analytic research through systemic review on voxel-based morphometry (VBM) imaging results to identify consistent gray matter (GM) difference between FMS patients and healthy subjects. We performed a comprehensive literature search in PubMed (January 2000–December 2015) and included six VBM publication on FMS. Stereotactic data were extracted from 180 patients of FMS and 123 healthy controls. By means of activation likelihood estimation (ALE) technique, regional GM reduction in left medial prefrontal cortex and right dorsal posterior cingulate cortex was identified. Both regions are within the default mode network. In conclusion, the gray matter deficit is related to the both affective and nonaffective components of pain processing. This result also provided the neuroanatomical correlates for emotional and cognitive symptoms in FMS.

A meta-analytic approach to mapping co-occurrent grey matter volume increases and decreases in psychiatric disorders

“…By far, most work in this area has focused on understanding GM volume reductions in clinical disease. Not only have several meta-analyses of different diseases shown that such reductions are common (Fornito et al, 2009;Bora et al, 2010Bora et al, , 2011Bora et al, , 2012aFusar-Poli et al, 2011;Hallahan et al, 2011;Linkersdörfer et al, 2012;Du et al, 2012;Li et al, 2014Li et al, , 2018Stoodley, 2014;Cauda et al, 2014;Foster et al, 2015;Lin et al, 2016;Wise et al, 2017;Wu et al, 2018), and other work suggests that anatomically distributed yet coordinated GM reductions are tied to the underlying connectivity between regions (Seeley et al, 2009;Raj et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2012;Crossley et al, 2014;Iturria-Medina et al, 2014;Zeighami et al, 2015, Cauda et al, 2018aYau et al, 2018;Zheng et al, 2019). In contrast, GM increases are less commonly considered in clinical neuroimaging studies (Cauda et al, 2011(Cauda et al, , 2017(Cauda et al, , 2018bTatu et al, 2018, Cauda et al, 2019bDing et al, 2019;Lu et al, 2019), potentially because they might be a rarer consequence of disease and because they can be difficult to explain in the context of pathology.…”

Neuroimagen de la fibromialgia: una enfermedad del cerebro

“…Estos datos funcionales parecen implicar cambios neuroplásticos mal adaptativos de la actividad cortical que incluyen áreas del circuito neural del dolor (90). Dichas alteraciones cerebrales también se objetivan estructuralmente, con una especial reducción del VSG en la CCA, INS y CPF con una relativa preservación del VSG global (3,11,76,80). Sin embargo, no está totalmente aclarado si la disminución del VSG es causal, representa un endofenotipo o es un epifenómeno de la FM (11).…”

“…El incremento del VSG se objetiva en la COF izquierda (73,74), CCA dorsal (48), INS (48), SII (48,71,75), cerebelo (73,74,76) y estriado bilateralmente (48,73). Contrariamente, se constata una reducción del VSG en la circunvolución temporal superior (71,73), INS (71,77,78), COF lateral (72) y medial (71,74,76,79,80), CCA rostral (61,72,76,77,79), CCP (71,76,80), precuneus izquierdo (71,75,76), TAL (48,73), amígdala (48,61), circunvolución parahipocámpica (61,76,79), putamen (48) y SGP (48,75). Es de especial relevancia el decremento del VSG y grosor de la corteza en la CCA en su porción rostral, así como una reducción significativa del VSB en la CCA rostral izquierda y en la COF lateral izquierda (72), puesto que ello conlleva a una desregulación de los mecanismos inhibitorios endógenos en la FM (33,69,…”

“…Asimismo, es destacable la reducción del VSG en la corteza prefrontal medial que se implica con el componente emocional del dolor, específicamente con la ansiedad anticipatoria, y la CCP se asocia con el proceso evaluativo y de metanálisis del dolor o toma de consciencia del mismo (76,80). La reducción del VSG en la amígdala e hipocampo podría relacionarse como una disminución de la capacidad de respuesta al estrés en la FM (11).…”

Digging into the construct of fibrofog: Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Multidimensional Inventory of Subjective Cognitive Impairment in patients with fibromyalgia

“…To evaluate the construct validity of the MISCI, a subsample of 96 patients with FM also completed a battery of self‐report measures. Additionally, to extend the evaluation of construct validity of the MISCI with brain‐based objective variables, anatomic brain measurements from 61 patients were obtained and gray matter volumes of specific regions of interest potentially related to fibromyalgia (Lin, Lee, & Weng, ; Wallit, Ceko, Gracely & Gracely, ) were calculated. To evaluate MISCI sensitivity to change, 59 patients from the EUDAIMON study (37 allocated to MBSR and 22 to Treatment‐as‐usual [TAU]) also completed the MISCI pre‐ and postintervention (8 weeks).…”