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BMC Neurology
Published in: BMC Neurology 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Increased cortical activation upon painful stimulation in fibromyalgia syndrome

Authors: Nurcan Üçeyler, Julia Zeller, Susanne Kewenig, Sarah Kittel-Schneider, Andreas J. Fallgatter, Claudia Sommer

Published in: BMC Neurology | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain and associated symptoms. We investigated cerebral activation in FMS patients by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Methods

Two stimulation paradigms were applied: a) painful pressure stimulation at the dorsal forearm; b) verbal fluency test (VFT). We prospectively recruited 25 FMS patients, ten patients with unipolar major depression (MD) without pain, and 35 healthy controls. All patients underwent neurological examination and all subjects were investigated with questionnaires (pain, depression, FMS, empathy).

Results

FMS patients had lower pressure pain thresholds than patients with MD and controls (p < 0.001) and reported higher pain intensity (p < 0.001). Upon unilateral pressure pain stimulation fNIRS recordings revealed increased bilateral cortical activation in FMS patients compared to controls (p < 0.05). FMS patients also displayed a stronger contralateral activity over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in direct comparison to patients with MD (p < 0.05). While all three groups performed equally well in the VFT, a frontal deficit in cortical activation was only found in patients with depression (p < 0.05). Performance and cortical activation correlated negatively in FMS patients (p < 0.05) and positively in patients with MD (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Our data give further evidence for altered central nervous processing in patients with FMS and the distinction between FMS and MD.

Trial registration

ISRCTN registry ID ISRCTN15015327 (24.09.2015).
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Increased cortical activation upon painful stimulation in fibromyalgia syndrome
Authors
Nurcan Üçeyler
Julia Zeller
Susanne Kewenig
Sarah Kittel-Schneider
Andreas J. Fallgatter
Claudia Sommer
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Neurology / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2377
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-015-0472-4

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