ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2025
Burnout and the Brain-A Mechanistic Review of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Studies.
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- A Hierarchical Multi-View Deep Learning Framework for Autism Classification Using Structural and Functional MRI.Journal of imaging · 2026Article
- From run-to-failure to condition-based care: a multi-domain framework for preventive psychiatry.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Thermodynamic Biomarkers of Neuroinflammation: Nanothermometry, Energy-Stress Dynamics, and Predictive Entropy in Glial-Vascular Networks.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Endocannabinoid-Microbiota-Neuroimmune Super-System: A Unifying Feedback Architecture for Systems Resilience, Collapse Trajectories, and Precision Feedback Medicine.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- A review on shared genetic architecture of endometriosis and migraine: from pleiotropy to convergent inflammatory pathways.Frontiers in neurologyReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Occupational burnout is ubiquitous yet still debated as a disease entity. Previous reviews surveyed multiple biomarkers but left their neural substrate unclear. We therefore asked: What, if any, reproducible magnetic-resonance signature characterises burnout? Following PRISMA principles adapted for mechanistic synthesis, two reviewers searched PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, ResearchGate and Cochrane from January 2000 to May 2025 using "MRI/fMRI" AND "burnout". After duplicate removal and multi-stage screening, 17 clinical studies met predefined inclusion criteria (English language, MRI outcomes, validated burnout diagnosis). In total, ≈1365 participants were scanned, 880 with clinically significant burnout and 470 controls. Uniform Maslach Burnout Inventory thresholds defined cases; most studies matched age and sex, and all excluded primary neurological disease. Structural morphometry (8/17 studies) revealed consistent amygdala enlargement-predominantly in women-and grey-matter loss in dorsolateral/ventromedial prefrontal cortex and striatal caudate-putamen, while hippocampal volume remained unaffected, distinguishing burnout from PTSD or depression. Resting-state and task fMRI (9/17 studies) showed fronto-cortical hyper-activation, weakened amygdala-ACC coupling, and progressive fragmentation of rich-club networks, collectively indicating compensatory executive overdrive and global inefficiency. Two longitudinal cohorts and several intervention sub-studies demonstrated partial reversal of cortical thinning and limbic hyper-reactivity after mindfulness, exercise, cognitive-behavioural therapy, neurofeedback, or rTMS, underscoring plasticity. Across heterogeneous paradigms and populations, MRI converges on a coherent, sex-modulated but reversible brain-networkopathy that satisfies objective disease criteria. These findings justify early neuro-imaging-based triage, circuit-targeted therapy, and formal nosological recognition of burnout as a mental disorder, with policy ramifications for occupational health and insurance parity.
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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.