Investigating the neural effects of emotional stimuli and pharmacological treatments on the emotional regulation network in fibromyalgia: A graph theory approach

IF 3.7 3区医学 Q2 NEUROSCIENCES

Brain Research Bulletin Pub Date : 2025-09-23 DOI:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2025.111561

Leila Solouki , Hamid Sharini , Hiwa Mohammadi , Samira Jafari , Behzad Mahaki

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

The present study examines the impact of positive, negative, and neutral emotional stimuli on brain activity, as well as the relationship between various pharmacological treatment states and functional brain topology, with special emphasis on regions related to emotional regulation in patients with fibromyalgia (FM).

Method

In this study, fMRI images of 33 women with FM were used to analyze brain regions involved in emotional processing and regulation using various graph theory metrics. To investigate the relationship between the values of these metrics and different pharmacological treatment states, a one-way multivariate analysis of variance was conducted. Additionally, each of the graph theory metrics was examined in response to negative and positive stimuli in comparison to neutral stimuli.

Result

The results indicated that during positive stimulation, significant changes in brain activity were observed in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC_R), the right supplementary motor area (SMA-R), and the left angular gyrus (AG-L) under various pharmacological conditions. In contrast, during negative stimulation, brain function in the VLPFC_R, right superior temporal gyrus, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC-R), and ultimately AG-L exhibited significant differences across different pharmacological treatments. Additionally, significant differences in the function of all targeted regions related to the emotion regulation network were observed during positive and negative stimulation compared to neutral stimulation.

Conclusion

There is a significant relationship between emotional stimuli and brain function in FM patients, as well as between various pharmacological treatment states and the performance of the brain's emotion regulation network in response to positive and negative stimuli.

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情绪刺激和药物治疗对纤维肌痛症情绪调节网络的神经效应研究：图论方法。

背景：本研究探讨了积极、消极和中性情绪刺激对大脑活动的影响，以及各种药物治疗状态与大脑功能拓扑之间的关系，特别强调了纤维肌痛（FM）患者的情绪调节相关区域。方法：本研究采用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）对33名患有调频症的女性的情绪处理和调节脑区进行分析。为了研究这些指标的值与不同药物治疗状态之间的关系，进行了单向多变量方差分析。此外，与中性刺激相比，研究了每个图论指标对消极和积极刺激的反应。结果：结果表明，在正刺激作用下，大鼠右侧腹外侧前额叶皮层（VLPFC_R）、右侧辅助运动区（SMA-R）和左侧角回（AG-L）的脑活动在不同药理学条件下均发生了显著变化。相反，在负刺激下，不同药物治疗组的VLPFC_R、右侧颞上回、右侧背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC-R）和AG-L的脑功能表现出显著差异。此外，与中性刺激相比，在正刺激和负刺激下，与情绪调节网络相关的所有目标区域的功能都存在显著差异。结论：FM患者情绪刺激与脑功能之间存在显著关系，各种药物治疗状态与大脑情绪调节网络对正、负刺激的反应表现之间存在显著关系。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Brain Research Bulletin 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

6.90

自引率

2.60%

发文量

253

审稿时长

67 days

期刊介绍： The Brain Research Bulletin (BRB) aims to publish novel work that advances our knowledge of molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie neural network properties associated with behavior, cognition and other brain functions during neurodevelopment and in the adult. Although clinical research is out of the Journal''s scope, the BRB also aims to publish translation research that provides insight into biological mechanisms and processes associated with neurodegeneration mechanisms, neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. The Journal is especially interested in research using novel methodologies, such as optogenetics, multielectrode array recordings and life imaging in wild-type and genetically-modified animal models, with the goal to advance our understanding of how neurons, glia and networks function in vivo.