Mind-body treatments such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and a psychoeducational program (FibroQoL) reduced pain catastrophizing in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Using resting-state fMRI, the study found that MBSR specifically reduced functional connectivity within the sensorimotor network compared to a treatment-as-usual group. Baseline connectivity between the salience network and sensorimotor network predicted pain reduction differently for each treatment: negatively for MBSR and positively for FibroQoL, with large to very large effect sizes. Among MBSR patients with lower baseline connectivity, more mindfulness practice was linked to greater clinical improvement. These results suggest that different mind-body treatments engage distinct brain networks and that functional connectivity measures could serve as predictors of treatment response.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and a psychoeducational programme (FibroQoL) each produced distinct changes in brain activity and symptoms in people with fibromyalgia. Both treatments disrupted the typical link between clinical pain and brain perfusion, particularly in the insula, where perfusion changes correlated with pain improvement. Only FibroQoL decreased blood flow in the amygdala, and this change was accompanied by a decoupling of amygdala activity from pain catastrophizing and anxiety. Baseline blood flow in the anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula correlated positively with pain across all patients. These findings encourage research into predictors of treatment response.
Mind-body treatments such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and a psychoeducational programme (FibroQoL) reduced pain catastrophizing in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome, but their effects on brain functional connectivity differed. Baseline connectivity between the salience network and sensorimotor network predicted pain reduction in opposite directions for the two treatments: negative for MBSR, positive for FibroQoL. Minutes of mindfulness practice were associated with clinical improvement only in patients with lower baseline connectivity between the salience network and primary somatosensory cortex. The findings suggest that different mind-body treatments engage distinct brain network mechanisms and that measures of functional interplay may serve as predictors of treatment response.