Virtual reality tasks disclose spatial memory alterations in fibromyalgia.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Rheumatology

Background:

• Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition associated with cognitive complaints, often referred to as 'fibro-fog'.
• Previous research has yielded mixed results regarding cognitive impairments in FM patients.
• The utility of virtual reality (VR) for assessing cognitive functions in FM remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate spatial memory performance in fibromyalgia patients using virtual reality tasks.
• To compare VR spatial memory performance with traditional neuropsychological tests in FM.
• To investigate the relationship between disease chronicity and cognitive function in fibromyalgia.

Main Methods:

• Fifteen fibromyalgia patients and fifteen healthy controls participated.
• Participants completed virtual reality versions of the Morris water maze and hole board tasks (Boxes room).
• A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation assessed general intelligence, attention/working memory, and visuospatial memory.

Main Results:

• Virtual reality tasks effectively identified spatial memory alterations.
• Fibromyalgia patients showed significantly poorer performance on VR spatial navigation tasks compared to controls.
• No significant differences in performance were observed between groups on standard neuropsychological tests.

Conclusions:

• This study provides the first evidence of a spatial learning deficit in individuals with fibromyalgia.
• The findings suggest potential disturbances in the hippocampal system in fibromyalgia patients.
• VR tasks may offer a more sensitive measure of specific cognitive deficits in fibromyalgia than traditional tests.