Structural Neuroimaging Alterations in Primary Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Seed-Based d Mapping (SDM-PSI) Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neuroscience
• Medical Research

Background:

• Primary burning mouth syndrome (pBMS) is a chronic orofacial pain condition with unknown neurobiological causes.
• Existing brain imaging studies show inconsistent findings regarding structural changes in pBMS patients.
• pBMS is often associated with psychological distress and reduced quality of life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify consistent grey matter alterations in patients with pBMS using a quantitative structural neuroimaging meta-analysis.
• To elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying pBMS.
• To investigate potential neuroimaging signatures of pBMS.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies was performed using seed-based d mapping (SDM-PSI).
• Data from 59 pBMS patients and 63 healthy controls were synthesized.
• Exploratory functional connectivity analyses were conducted on subsets of the data.

Main Results:

• The meta-analysis revealed significantly reduced grey matter volume in the left medial superior frontal gyrus in pBMS patients compared to controls.
• This region is a subregion of the medial prefrontal cortex.

Conclusions:

• Reduced grey matter volume in the left medial superior frontal gyrus may serve as a neuroimaging signature for pBMS.
• These findings offer new insights into the central neurobiological underpinnings of pBMS.
• Further large-scale, longitudinal studies are needed to validate these results.