Work

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

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: 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). 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. 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. 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. • Examined brain network changes in fibromyalgia under emotional stimuli using graph theory • Identified key emotion regulation regions affected by positive and negative stimuli • Analyzed the impact of different pharmacological treatments on brain functional topology • Found significant alterations in VLPFC, DLPFC, SMA, and angular gyrus across treatments • Used fMRI and advanced graph metrics to link pharmacology, emotion, and brain networks

Source: Brain Research Bulletin

DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2025.111561

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

Institutions: Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,280