ReviewSleep medicine2017
Brain imaging and networks in restless legs syndrome.
Review in Sleep medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- Revisiting brain iron deficiency in restless legs syndrome using magnetic resonance imaging.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Identification of novel risk loci for restless legs syndrome in genome-wide association studies in individuals of European ancestry: a meta-analysis.The Lancet. Neurology · 2017Pooled it
- Ferric carboxymaltose effects on restless legs syndrome and on brain iron in patients with iron deficiency anemia.Sleep medicine · 2023Trial
- Selective impairment of affective theory of mind in restless legs syndrome: a case-control study.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2026Article
- Restless Legs Syndrome: A Network Model of Iron-Dependent Neuromodulation-A Narrative Review.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Serum Biomarkers in Restless Legs Syndrome: Beyond the Classical Iron Paradigm-A Scoping Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Prevalence of restless legs syndrome in patients with multiple sclerosis, as confirmed by sleep disorders specialists.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements of sleep - the relationship with stroke and other cerebrovascular disease.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Case Report: A novel use of Transcranial Pulse Stimulation in refractory Restless Legs Syndrome.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Aripiprazole Has Potential Efficacy for Antidepressant-induced Restless Legs Syndrome: A Case Series.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Restless Sleep Disorder in Children: An Educational Review on Diagnosis, Pathophysiology, and Management.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2025Review
- Dopamine Receptors in Restless Legs Syndrome and Augmentation: A Novel Perspective Focused on D1 and D3 Receptor Dynamics.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Article
- Restless Legs Syndrome and Impulsive Decision-Making: Impact of Symptom Severity, Chronotype and Interoception.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2025Article
- Bringing iron to the brain for restless legs.Sleep · 2025Article
- Article
- Unraveling Restless Legs Syndrome: A Comprehensive Review of Current Research and Future Directions.International journal of general medicine · 2025Review
- Restless legs syndrome: abbreviated guidelines by the German sleep society and the German neurological society.Neurological research and practice · 2024Article
- A Comparative Investigation of Functional Connectivity Utilizing Electroencephalography in Insomnia Patients with and without Restless Leg SyndromeClinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Acupuncture treatment of restless legs syndrome: a randomized clinical controlled study protocol based on PET-CT and fMRI.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
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 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Several studies provide information useful to our understanding of restless legs syndrome (RLS), using various imaging techniques to investigate different aspects putatively involved in the pathophysiology of RLS, although there are discrepancies between these findings. The majority of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies using iron-sensitive sequences supports the presence of a diffuse, but regionally variable low brain-iron content, mainly at the level of the substantia nigra, but there is increasing evidence of reduced iron levels in the thalamus. Positron emission tomography (PET) and single positron emission computed tomography (SPECT) findings mainly support dysfunction of dopaminergic pathways involving not only the nigrostriatal but also mesolimbic pathways. None or variable brain structural or microstructural abnormalities have been reported in RLS patients; reports are slightly more consistent concerning levels of white matter. Most of the reported changes were in regions belonging to sensorimotor and limbic/nociceptive networks. Functional MRI studies have demonstrated activation or connectivity changes in the same networks. The thalamus, which includes different sensorimotor and limbic/nociceptive networks, appears to have lower iron content, metabolic abnormalities, dopaminergic dysfunction, and changes in activation and functional connectivity. Summarizing these findings, the primary change could be the reduction of brain iron content, which leads to dysfunction of mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathways, and in turn to a dysregulation of limbic and sensorimotor networks. Future studies in RLS should evaluate the actual causal relationship among these findings, better investigate the role of neurotransmitters other than dopamine, focus on brain networks by connectivity analysis, and test the reversibility of the different imaging findings following therapy.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.