Aberrant Resting-state Functional Connectivity in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Network-based Statistics Analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Pain Research

Background:

• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic neuropathic pain condition.
• Pain catastrophizing, involving magnification, rumination, and helplessness, exacerbates pain and distress in CRPS.
• Functional connectivity alterations in CRPS are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate whole-brain functional connectivity differences in CRPS patients compared to controls.
• Examine the association between altered functional connectivity and pain catastrophizing in CRPS.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used for 21 CRPS patients and 49 healthy controls.
• Network-based Statistics (NBS) analysis identified between-group differences in functional connectivity.
• Correlation analyses assessed the relationship between connectivity patterns and pain catastrophizing scores.

Main Results:

• CRPS patients exhibited higher functional connectivity in somatosensory subnetworks (components 1-2).
• CRPS patients showed lower functional connectivity in prefronto-posterior cingulate, prefrontal, prefronto-parietal, and thalamo-anterior cingulate subnetworks (components 3-6).
• Higher connectivity in components 1-2 and lower connectivity in components 3-6 significantly correlated with increased pain catastrophizing.

Conclusions:

• Altered functional connectivity in somatosensory and cognitive-affective pain processing networks may underlie pain catastrophizing in CRPS.
• Findings suggest exaggerated pain perception and impaired cognitive-affective regulation contribute to CRPS.
• This study highlights the role of brain network alterations in the experience of chronic pain and catastrophizing.