Abnormal Dynamics of Functional Connectivity Density Associated With Chronic Neck Pain

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neuroscience
• Pain Research

Background:

• Chronic neck pain (CNP) is a prevalent condition associated with functional limitations and psychological distress.
• Brain abnormalities are common in CNP, but temporal dynamics of functional organization remain underexplored.
• Dynamic functional connectivity density (dFCD) offers potential as an objective neuroimaging marker for pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare dFCD between CNP patients and healthy controls (HCs).
• To investigate the association between altered dFCD variability and pain characteristics in CNP patients.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted on 89 CNP patients and 57 HCs.
• The sliding window method was employed to analyze dFCD using the DynamicBC toolbox.
• dFCD variability was quantified, and correlations with pain-related factors were assessed.

Main Results:

• CNP patients exhibited significant differences in dFCD compared to HCs, notably in the anterior cingulate cortex, occipital lobe, temporal lobe, and cerebellum.
• Abnormal dFCD variability in these regions correlated with disease duration, pain intensity, and depression levels.
• These findings suggest dynamic functional alterations in the brains of individuals with CNP.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic functional connectivity alterations are evident in CNP patients.
• dFCD in specific brain regions may serve as objective neuroimaging markers for chronic pain.
• This research deepens the understanding of chronic pain's impact on neural communication and emotional processing.