Disrupted Sensorimotor Network Integration in Women With Fibromyalgia Revealed by Resting-State Functional MRI

Abstract

Background and purpose: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic syndrome characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, hypersensitivity, and cognitive impairments. Alterations in brain functional connectivity have been suggested as possible mechanisms underlying pain amplification in these patients. This study aimed to investigate patterns of brain functional connectivity in patients with FM using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods: Data were obtained from the public OpenNeuro repository and acquired on a 3 Tesla scanner. The sample consisted of 33 women with a clinical diagnosis of FM (x̅ = 41.73 ± 6.09 years) and 33 age-matched healthy controls (x̅ = 41.52 ± 6.03 years), with no significant differences in age (p = 0.89) or education level (p = 0.81). Images were processed and analyzed using independent component analysis. Between-group comparisons were corrected for multiple comparisons using false discovery rate (FDR) correction (p < 0.05).

Results: Patients with FM showed a significant reduction in functional connectivity within the right sensorimotor network (SMN) compared to controls (p-FDR < 0.05). Moreover, a negative correlation was observed between connectivity in this network and the sensory dimension of pain assessed by the McGill Pain Questionnaire (r = -0.35; p = 0.05).

Conclusion: The reduced functional connectivity within the SMN may represent a neurobiological marker of FM, reflecting dysfunctions in sensorimotor integration and central modulation of pain. These findings support the hypothesis that FM involves functional brain alterations related to pain perception and amplification.

Keywords: chronic pain; fibromyalgia; functional connectivity; resting‐state fMRI; sensorimotor network.