Fibromyalgia: brain abnormalities may lead to hypersensitivity to non-painful events

People with fibromyalgia may have hypersensitivity to non-painful events because of reduced activation in primary sensory regions and increased activation in sensory integration areas, says a new study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
Previous findings highlight that people with fibromyalgia report reduced tolerance to normal sensory (auditory, visual, olfactory and tactile) stimulation in addition to greater sensitivity to pain.
So a research team used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain response to sensory stimulation in 35 women with fibromyalgia and 25 healthy, age-matched controls. The group had an average disease duration of seven years and a mean age of 47 years.
The experts found that the patient group reported increased unpleasantness in response to multisensory stimulation in daily life activities. And fMRI showed reduced activation of the primary and secondary visual and auditory areas of the brain, and increased activation in sensory integration regions. These brain abnormalities mediated the increased unpleasantness to visual, auditory and tactile stimulation that patients reported to experience in daily life.
“Our study provides new evidence that fibromyalgia patients display altered central processing in response to multisensory stimulation, which are linked to core fibromyalgia symptoms and may be part of the disease pathology,” explains lead study author Dr Marina López-Solà. “The finding of reduced cortical activation in the visual and auditory brain areas that were associated with patient pain complaints may offer novel targets for neurostimulation treatments in fibromyalgia patients.”

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