Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24936419›Full record

SynthesisNeuroImage. Clinical2014

Gray matter alterations in chronic pain: A network-oriented meta-analytic approach.

Franco Cauda, Sara Palermo, Tommaso Costa, Riccardo Torta, Sergio Duca, Ugo Vercelli, Giuliano Geminiani, Diana M E Torta

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 100 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
100citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.7field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

100 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 208 citations in OpenAlex.

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40 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Franco CaudaGCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Functional Neuroimaging and Complex Systems Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Sara PalermoFunctional Neuroimaging and Complex Systems Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Tommaso CostaGCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Functional Neuroimaging and Complex Systems Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Riccardo TortaDepartment of Neuroscience, AOU San Giovanni Battista, Turin, Italy ; Psycho-Oncology and Clinical Psychology Unit, University of Turin, Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy.
Sergio DucaGCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Functional Neuroimaging and Complex Systems Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Ugo VercelliGCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Giuliano GeminianiGCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Diana M E TortaGCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Functional Neuroimaging and Complex Systems Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ; Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
University of Turin · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Several studies have attempted to characterize morphological brain changes due to chronic pain. Although it has repeatedly been suggested that longstanding pain induces gray matter modifications, there is still some controversy surrounding the direction of the change (increase or decrease in gray matter) and the role of psychological and psychiatric comorbidities. In this study, we propose a novel, network-oriented, meta-analytic approach to characterize morphological changes in chronic pain. We used network decomposition to investigate whether different kinds of chronic pain are associated with a common or specific set of altered networks. Representational similarity techniques, network decomposition and model-based clustering were employed: i) to verify the presence of a core set of brain areas commonly modified by chronic pain; ii) to investigate the involvement of these areas in a large-scale network perspective; iii) to study the relationship between altered networks and; iv) to find out whether chronic pain targets clusters of areas. Our results showed that chronic pain causes both core and pathology-specific gray matter alterations in large-scale networks. Common alterations were observed in the prefrontal regions, in the anterior insula, cingulate cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, periaqueductal gray, post- and pre-central gyri and inferior parietal lobule. We observed that the salience and attentional networks were targeted in a very similar way by different chronic pain pathologies. Conversely, alterations in the sensorimotor and attention circuits were differentially targeted by chronic pain pathologies. Moreover, model-based clustering revealed that chronic pain, in line with some neurodegenerative diseases, selectively targets some large-scale brain networks. Altogether these findings indicate that chronic pain can be better conceived and studied in a network perspective.

Indexed as

Brain MappingAdultChronic PainCluster AnalysisDatabases, FactualFemaleGray MatterHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedLikelihood FunctionsMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleYoung AdultBrain networksChronic painGray matter alterationsVoxel-Based Metaanalysis

Identifiers

PMID24936419
PMCPMC4053643
OpenAlexW2114969507

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.