The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / fMRI Can Help Diagnose Fibromyalgia

fMRI Can Help Diagnose Fibromyalgia

March 20, 2017 • By David C. Holzman

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

Although not presently possible, Dr. Harris says that in the future, “Imaging may be able to confirm these cases, and it could also discover new pathologies that are not currently captured with self report.”

You Might Also Like
  • Fibromyalgia Pain Associated with Changes in Brain Connectivity
  • Hypersensitivity to Non-Painful Events May Be Part of Pathology in Fibromyalgia
  • fMRI Provides Visual Evidence of Pain
Explore This Issue
March 2017
Also By This Author
  • The Burden of Rheumatic Diseases Among Indigenous People in Latin America Is Disproportionate

“This is definitely worth investigating,” says Dr. Lee.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Ultimately, says Dr. Wager, the hope is that research, such as this, will lead to a thorough understanding of fibromyalgia. Presently, fibromyalgia is a syndrome with many subgroups, he says. Patients with ample discomfort related to touch, hearing or vision, but without specific pains in specific places, “may have some underlying problem, which may be related to inflammation or systemic autoimmune disease or broader kinds of brain psychopathology, more like generalized anxiety disorder or depression.” The goal, he says, is to identify brain features that can provide clues for defining subgroups that have more homogeneous neuropathology.”

“Currently, fibromyalgia diagnosis consists of individuals with similar symptoms but who have different pathways leading to those symptoms,” says Dr. Lee. “Thus, some of these methods may be helpful in identifying specific subtypes of patients with fibromyalgia, which in turn may enable better treatments targeted to specific subtypes.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Potential treatment technologies—still well in the future for these applications—may include transcranial magnetic stimulation or transcranial direct current stimulation in the insula or other parts of the brain that may be found to be involved in fibromyalgia. “You may be able to inhibit specific brain areas without requiring surgery,” says Dr. Harris.

Says Dr. Wager, “We need to identify patients based on underlying pathology rather than just symptoms.”


David C. Holzman writes on medicine, science, environment and energy from Lexington, Mass.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

References

  1. López-Solà M, Woo CW, Pujol J, et al. Towards a neurophysiological signature for fibromyalgia. Pain. [2016 Aug 31, Epub ahead of print] 2017 Jan;158(1):34–47.
  2. Harte SE, Ichesco E, Hampson JP, et al. Pharmacologic attenuation of cross-modal sensory augmentation within the chronic pain insula. Pain. 2016 Sep;157(9):1933–1945.

Another Anatomical Marker for Fibromyalgia

In earlier research, Richard Harris, PhD, of the University of Michigan Medical School, and his group previously posited that the activation of the insula is closely tied to a network called the Default Mode Network in fibromyalgia.1 This is a network of brain areas that are activated when a person is thinking introspectively, or “essentially assessing the status of their homeostasis,” says Dr. Harris.

Although the Default Mode Network is not directly activated by pain per se, it is more connected to areas of the brain that are involved in pain, notably the insula, in some pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia. “The insula is definitely an area that lights up in response to pain,” says Dr. Harris.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Technology Tagged With: brain, Diagnosis, Fibromyalgia, fMRI, imaging, machine learning, Pain, rheumatologist, rheumatology, stimuliIssue: March 2017

You Might Also Like:
  • Fibromyalgia Pain Associated with Changes in Brain Connectivity
  • Hypersensitivity to Non-Painful Events May Be Part of Pathology in Fibromyalgia
  • fMRI Provides Visual Evidence of Pain
  • Pain Links Fibromyalgia & RA

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2022 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)