ArticlePain2019
Functional and neurochemical disruptions of brain hub topology in chronic pain.
Article in Pain, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 6 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
47 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Structural and Functional Neuroimaging Findings in Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Connectomic Mapping of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Neural Circuitries Identified Through a Systematic Review and ALE Meta-Analysis.Neural plasticity · 2026Pooled it
- Brain network properties in chronic pain-a systematic review and meta-analysis of graph-based connectivity metrics.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI studies on acupuncture at LR 3.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Meta-analysis and open-source database for in vivo brain Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy in health and disease.Analytical biochemistry · 2023Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of neuroimaging evidence for acupuncture-mediated modulation of altered central pain processing in patients with chronic pain.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Can EEG-Neurofeedback Training Enhance Effective Connectivity in People With Chronic Secondary Musculoskeletal Pain? A Secondary Analysis of a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.Brain and behavior · 2025Trial
- Closed-Loop Infraslow Brain-Computer Interface can Modulate Cortical Activity and Connectivity in Individuals With Chronic Painful Knee Osteoarthritis: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.Clinical EEG and neuroscience · 2025Trial
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signal Variability Is Associated With Neuromodulation in Fibromyalgia.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2023Trial
- Effects ofPain reports · 2026Article
- Fibromyalgia: A Multifactorial Pain Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The insula represents a key neurobiological pain hub in psoriatic arthritis.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Article
- Chronic Pain and Comorbid Emotional Disorders: Neural Circuitry and Neuroimmunity Pathways.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Multi-network dynamical structure of the human brain in the setting of chronic pain: a coordinate-based meta-analysis.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Hub disruption in HIV disease and cocaine use: A connectomics analysis of brain function.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- The Association between Pressure Pain Thresholds, Conditioned Pain Modulation, Clinical Status, and Sleep Quality in Fibromyalgia Patients: A Clinical Trial Secondary Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Functional connectivity associated with attention networks differs among subgroups of fibromyalgia patients: an observational case-control study.Scientific reports · 2024Observational
- Correlation between Different Psychological Variables in Women with Fibromyalgia with Symptoms of Neurogenic Inflammation: A Cross-Sectional Study.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Machine learning identifies fatigue as a key symptom of fibromyalgia reflected in tyrosine, purine, pyrimidine, and glutaminergic metabolism.Clinical and translational science · 2024Article
- Graph theory analysis reveals an assortative pain network vulnerable to attacks.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
A critical component of brain network architecture is a robust hub structure, wherein hub regions facilitate efficient information integration by occupying highly connected and functionally central roles in the network. Across a wide range of neurological disorders, hub brain regions seem to be disrupted, and the character of this disruption can yield insights into the pathophysiology of these disorders. We applied a brain network-based approach to examine hub topology in fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition with prominent central nervous system involvement. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 40 fibromyalgia patients and 46 healthy volunteers, and a small validation cohort of 11 fibromyalgia patients, were analyzed using graph theoretical techniques to model connections between 264 brain regions. In fibromyalgia, the anterior insulae functioned as hubs and were members of the rich club, a highly interconnected nexus of hubs. In fibromyalgia, rich-club membership varied with the intensity of clinical pain: the posterior insula, primary somatosensory, and motor cortices belonged to the rich club only in patients with the highest pain intensity. Furthermore, the eigenvector centrality (a measure of how connected a region is to other highly connected regions) of the posterior insula positively correlated with clinical pain and mediated the relationship between glutamate + glutamine (assessed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy) within this structure and the patient's clinical pain report. Together, these findings reveal altered hub topology in fibromyalgia and demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a neurochemical basis for altered hub strength and its relationship to the perception of pain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.