Differential Brain Perfusion Changes Following Two Mind-Body Interventions for Fibromyalgia Patients: an Arterial Spin Labelling fMRI Study.
Sonia Medina, Owen O'Daly, Matthew A Howard, Albert Feliu-Soler, Juan V Luciano
Mindfulness 2022 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-021-01806-2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 46 |
| Population | Fibromyalgia patients |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based stress reduction training |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Fibromyalgia Meditation, Pcasl FMRI |
| Registration | NCT02561416 |
| Key findings | Different mind-to-body treatments correspond to differential changes in clinical symptoms and brain activity patterns, with both treatments disrupting the typical relationship between clinical pain and brain perfusion. |
Abstract
Further mechanistic insight on mind-body techniques for fibromyalgia (FMS) is needed. Arterial spin labelling (ASL) imaging can capture changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) that relate to spontaneous pain. We recruited FMS patients undergoing either mindfulness-based stress reduction training (MBSR, n = 14) or a psychoeducational programme (FibroQoL, n = 18), and a control FMS group with no add-on treatment (n = 14). We acquired whole-brain rCBF maps and self-report measures at baseline and following treatment and explored interaction effects in brain perfusion between the treatment group and session with a focus on the amygdala, the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We identified a significant interaction effect in the amygdala, which corresponded with rCBF decreases following FibroQoL specifically. At baseline, rCBF in the amygdala for the FibroQoL group correlated with pain catastrophizing and anxiety scores, but not after treatment, suggesting a decoupling between activity in the amygdala and negative emotional symptoms of FMS as a consequence of treatment. Baseline rCBF correlated positively with pain symptoms in the ACC and the anterior insula across all patients; moreover, the correlation between rCBF changes post intervention in the insula and pain improvement was negative for both treatments and significantly different from the control group. We suggest that there is disruption of the typical relationship between clinical pain and activity as a product of these two nonpharmacological therapies. We have demonstrated that different mind-to-body treatments correspond to differential changes in clinical symptoms and brain activity patterns, which encourages future research investigating predictors of treatment response. NCT02561416. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-021-01806-2.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Research in Mindfulness Interventions for Patients With Fibromyalgia: A Critical Review. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience July 28, 2022
- Mind-body therapy for treating fibromyalgia: a systematic review. Pain Medicine August 2, 2024
- Does practice make perfect? Functional connectivity of the salience network and somatosensory network predicts response to mind-body treatments for fibromyalgia. Frontiers in Pain Research 2024
- Effects of meditation on neural responses to pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews July 1, 2024
- The mechanism of mindfulness meditation on pain by functional magnetic resonance imaging method The European Research Journal April 12, 2023
and 1 more in the library
Cites 9
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- Brief Mindfulness Meditation Improves Emotion Processing Frontiers in Neuroscience October 10, 2019
- A randomized controlled efficacy trial of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction compared to an active control group and usual care for fibromyalgia: the EUDAIMON study. Pain August 13, 2019
- Immune-inflammatory pathways and clinical changes in fibromyalgia patients treated with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): A randomized, controlled clinical trial. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity August 1, 2019
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and 4 more in the library