Fibromyalgia & musculoskeletal pain
A Randomized Controlled Neuroimaging Trial of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Fibromyalgia Pain
Authors' conclusion
Our results suggest clinically important and CBT-specific associations between somatosensory/motor- and salience-processing brain regions and the DMN in chronic pain.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with fibromyalgia (FM)114 enrolled
- Participants
- 98 patients
- Comparison
- 8 weeks of individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) vs matched FM education control
- Primary endpoint
- Pain catastrophizing and its underlying brain circuitry
- Follow-up
- Post treatment
Methodological detailsmechanistic, neuroimaging
- Mechanistic
- Neuroimaging
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Pain catastrophizing
- CBT produced larger decreases in pain catastrophizing post treatment vs EDU
- Following CBT, ventral posterior cingulate cortex (vPCC) connectivity to somatomotor and salience network areas was reduced
- CBT vs EDU: P < 0.05
Further findings
Pain interference and symptom impact
- Larger reductions with CBT vs EDU
- Decreases in pain catastrophizing significantly mediated these functional improvements in CBT
Baseline vPCC (default mode network (DMN) node) connectivity during catastrophizing thoughts
- Connectivity between vPCC and somatomotor and salience network regions increased during catastrophizing thoughts
Original publication
A Randomized Controlled Neuroimaging Trial of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Fibromyalgia Pain. Arthritis Rheumatol. Published 21 November 2023. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →