ArticlePain2017
Brain signature and functional impact of centralized pain: a multidisciplinary approach to the study of chronic pelvic pain (MAPP) network study.
Article in Pain, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers, 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 151 citations in OpenAlex.
- Structural and Functional Neuroimaging Findings in Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Visual Snow Syndrome as a Network Disorder: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Pooled it
- Disentangling the Effects of Spinal Cord Injury and Related Neuropathic Pain on Supraspinal Neuroplasticity: A Systematic Review on Neuroimaging.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Pooled it
- Prevalence of Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions in Participants With Chronic Low Back Pain Enrolled in a Pragmatic Trial of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Trial
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signal Variability Is Associated With Neuromodulation in Fibromyalgia.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2023Trial
- Prediction of Differential Pharmacologic Response in Chronic Pain Using Functional Neuroimaging Biomarkers and a Support Vector Machine Algorithm: An Exploratory Study.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Trial
- Greater Somatosensory Afference With Acupuncture Increases Primary Somatosensory Connectivity and Alleviates Fibromyalgia Pain via Insular γ-Aminobutyric Acid: A Randomized Neuroimaging Trial.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Trial
- Trial
- The hijacked insula: A stratified model of affective touch modulation in chronic pain.Journal of neuropsychology · 2026Review
- Lower resting-state functional connectivity between frontoparietal and sensory networks is associated with recent pain intensity in a community sample of youth.Neuroimage. Reports · 2026Article
- Chronic Ocular Surface Pain: A Missing Member of the Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions?Drugs · 2026Review
- Exploring the role of chronic overlapping pain conditions on smoking dependence, cessation challenges, and internalizing psychopathology among individuals with irritable bowel syndrome who smoke.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Association of widespread pain and peak alpha frequency cannot be isolated to a single network.Pain reports · 2026Article
- A Self-Reported Electronic Body Map Identifies Distinct Clinical Pain Phenotypes in Chronic Pancreatitis.Clinical and translational gastroenterology · 2026Article
- Cortical thickness, surface area, and multisite pain: distinct patterns by sex in adolescence.Biology of sex differences · 2026Article
- Exploring promising biomarkers based on pathogenic mechanisms in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.Nature reviews. Urology · 2026Review
- Central Nervous System Mechanisms and Treatment Response in Chronic Ocular Surface Pain: Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Observational Phenotyping Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Observational
- Correlates of Positive Response to Therapeutic Hydrodistension in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome.Neurourology and urodynamics · 2026Article
- Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Patient Phenotyping.Neurourology and urodynamics · 2026Review
- A Review of the Etiopathology of Phenotypes in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome.Neurourology and urodynamics · 2026Review
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
25 authors at 11 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic pain is often measured with a severity score that overlooks its spatial distribution across the body. This widespread pain is believed to be a marker of centralization, a central nervous system process that decouples pain perception from nociceptive input. Here, we investigated whether centralization is manifested at the level of the brain using data from 1079 participants in the Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain Research Network (MAPP) study. Participants with a clinical diagnosis of urological chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS) were compared to pain-free controls and patients with fibromyalgia, the prototypical centralized pain disorder. Participants completed questionnaires capturing pain severity, function, and a body map of pain. A subset (UCPPS N = 110; fibromyalgia N = 23; healthy control N = 49) underwent functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging. Patients with UCPPS reported pain ranging from localized (pelvic) to widespread (throughout the body). Patients with widespread UCPPS displayed increased brain gray matter volume and functional connectivity involving sensorimotor and insular cortices (P < 0.05 corrected). These changes translated across disease diagnoses as identical outcomes were present in patients with fibromyalgia but not pain-free controls. Widespread pain was also associated with reduced physical and mental function independent of pain severity. Brain pathology in patients with centralized pain is related to pain distribution throughout the body. These patients may benefit from interventions targeting the central nervous system.
Indexed as
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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.