Does practice make perfect? Functional connectivity of the salience network and somatosensory network predicts response to mind-body treatments for fibromyalgia.
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) January 1, 2024 Sonia Medina, Owen O'Daly, Matthew A Howard et al. 5 citations
Mind-body treatments such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and a psychoeducational program (FibroQoL) reduced pain catastrophizing in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Using resting-state fMRI, the study found that MBSR specifically reduced functional connectivity within the sensorimotor network compared to a treatment-as-usual group. Baseline connectivity between the salience network and sensorimotor network predicted pain reduction differently for each treatment: negatively for MBSR and positively for FibroQoL, with large to very large effect sizes. Among MBSR patients with lower baseline connectivity, more mindfulness practice was linked to greater clinical improvement. These results suggest that different mind-body treatments engage distinct brain networks and that functional connectivity measures could serve as predictors of treatment response.