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Cortical Abnormalities in Patients with Fibromyalgia: A Pilot Study of Surface-Based Morphometry Analysis
Ye Tu1, Jihong Wang1, Fei Xiong2
1Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Pain Medicine (Malden, Mass.)
|July 26, 2022
Summary
Fibromyalgia (FM) patients exhibit altered brain cortical morphology, including reduced thickness in the motor cortex, which correlates with pain perception and disease duration. These neuroanatomical differences offer insights into FM neuropathology.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neuroscience
- Medical Research
Background:
- Cortical morphology in fibromyalgia (FM) remains largely unknown, despite growing interest in neuroanatomy.
- Data on cortical gyrification in FM patients are scarce.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess cortical morphology in female FM patients compared to healthy controls (HC).
- To utilize surface-based morphometry (SBM) analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detailed cortical assessment.
Main Methods:
- Acquired T1-MRIs and clinical data from 20 FM patients and 20 HC subjects from a public dataset.
- Estimated surface parameters: cortical thickness, local gyrification index (LGI), sulcal depth, and fractal dimensionality using SBM.
- Compared SBM parameters between groups, controlling for age, and analyzed correlations with clinical profiles.
Main Results:
- FM patients displayed reduced cortical thickness in the right primary motor cortex compared to HC.
- Lower LGI was observed in the right rostral anterior cingulate, and higher sulcal depth in the right precuneus in FM patients.
- Cortical thickness in the right primary motor cortex negatively correlated with pain catastrophizing, self-perception scores, and disease duration in FM patients.
Conclusions:
- Findings indicate significant neuroanatomical aberrations in the brains of FM patients.
- These cortical differences may contribute to understanding the underlying neuropathology of fibromyalgia.
- The study highlights the potential of SBM MRI in identifying structural brain changes associated with FM.
