ArticleBrain sciences2016
Exercise Strengthens Central Nervous System Modulation of Pain in Fibromyalgia.
Article in Brain sciences, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03400527 (The Effects of Self Directed Exercise on People With Fibromyalgia), which is not on this map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
The Effects of Self Directed Exercise on People With Fibromyalgia
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multidisciplinary rehabilitation treatments for patients with fibromyalgia: a systematic review.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Central neurobiological effects of physical exercise in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Impact of repeated exposure to CPM on CPM efficiency and pain sensitivity in healthy adults: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Trial
- 'Physio-EndEA' Study: A Randomized, Parallel-Group Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effect of a Supervised and Adapted Therapeutic Exercise Program to Improve Quality of Life in Symptomatic Women Diagnosed with Endometriosis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Influence of pain anticipation on brain activity and pain perception in Gulf War Veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain.Psychophysiology · 2019Trial
- Functional status, physical activity level, and exercise regularity in patients with fibromyalgia after Multidisciplinary treatment: retrospective analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Rheumatology international · 2017Trial
- Beyond Structural Pathology: Central Sensitization and Chronic Pain with Reference to Lumbar Disc Herniation-A Narrative Review.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Article
- Central aspects of pain associated with physical activity: results from the Investigating Musculoskeletal Health and Wellbeing cohort.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Conservative Management of Occipital Neuralgia Supported by Physical Therapy: A Review of Available Research and Mechanistic Rationale to Guide Treatment.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Review
- Pathology of pain and its implications for therapeutic interventions.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2024Review
- Age- and Sex-Dependent Effects of Moderate Exercise on Endogenous Pain Inhibition in Rats.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Cerebral Mechanism of Tuina on the Descending Pain Inhibitory System in Knee Osteoarthritis: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Behavioral physical activity intervention coupled with standard post-cancer directed treatment care to mitigate chronic pain in childhood cancer survivors: A protocol for a single-center, pilot randomized controlled trial.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2023Article
- Physical Activity and Exercise Experience in Spanish and US Men with Fibromyalgia: A Qualitative Cross-Cultural Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Effect of exercise on chronic neck pain and central sensitization: A protocol for a randomized crossover trial.Experimental physiology · 2023Article
- Response to experimental cold-induced pain discloses a resistant category among endurance athletes, with a distinct profile of pain-related behavior and GABAergic EEG markers: a case-control preliminary study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Effect and mechanisms of exercise for complex regional pain syndrome.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2023Review
- Article
- Brain Structural Changes During Juvenile Fibromyalgia: Relationships With Pain, Fatigue, and Functional Disability.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To begin to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the benefits of exercise for chronic pain, we assessed the influence of exercise on brain responses to pain in fibromyalgia (FM). Complete data were collected for nine female FM patients and nine pain-free controls (CO) who underwent two functional neuroimaging scans, following exercise (EX) and following quiet rest (QR). Brain responses and pain ratings to noxious heat stimuli were compared within and between groups. For pain ratings, there was a significant (p < 0.05) Condition by Run interaction characterized by moderately lower pain ratings post EX compared to QR (d = 0.39-0.41) for FM but similar to ratings in CO (d = 0.10-0.26), thereby demonstrating that exercise decreased pain sensitivity in FM patients to a level that was analogous to pain-free controls. Brain responses demonstrated a significant within-group difference in FM patients, characterized by less brain activity bilaterally in the anterior insula following QR as compared to EX. There was also a significant Group by Condition interaction with FM patients showing less activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex following QR as compared to post-EX and CO following both conditions. These results suggest that exercise appeared to stimulate brain regions involved in descending pain inhibition in FM patients, decreasing their sensitivity to pain. Thus, exercise may benefit patients with FM via improving the functional capacity of the pain modulatory system.
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Registered trials
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.