Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42096799›Full record

ArticleNeuroImage. Clinical2026

Relationships between brain functional connectivity and resting cardiac autonomic profiles in functional neurological disorder: A pilot study.

Cristina Bleier, Andrew J Guthrie, Jessica Ranford, Julie MacLean, Ellen Godena, Julie Maggio, Sara A Finkelstein, Ibai Diez, Christiana Westlin, Karen S Quigley and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Cristina BleierMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: cbleier@mgh.harvard.edu.
Andrew J GuthrieMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jessica RanfordMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Department of Occupational Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Julie MacLeanMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Department of Occupational Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Ellen GodenaMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
Julie MaggioMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Sara A FinkelsteinMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
Ibai DiezMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Computational Neuroimaging Lab, Biobizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain; Ikerbasque Baske Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain; Center for Inflammation Imaging, Department of Radiology, Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Christiana WestlinMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Mass General Brigham Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Karen S QuigleyDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
David L PerezMass General Brigham Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Mass General Brigham Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: dlperez@mgb.org.

Funding

Defining Neurobiological Subtypes of Motor Functional Neurological DisorderR01MH125802 · NIMH · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI PEREZ, DAVID LEWIS · 2021 to 2025
$3.9M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH125802
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFunctional neurological disorder (FND) is associated with alterations in functional brain networks, yet relationships between peripheral autonomic physiology and brain architecture remain poorly characterized. This pilot study examined associations between cardiac autonomic metrics and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in FND.

methodsTwenty females with FND and 23 age-matched female psychiatric controls (PCs) completed questionnaires, 10-min resting photoplethysmography recordings, and same-day resting-state fMRI. Interbeat interval (IBI) and heart rate variability (HRV) metrics were extracted. Whole-brain rsFC was quantified using weighted-degree [centrality]. Within-group analyses tested associations between cardiac autonomic metrics and weighted-degree rsFC separately in FND and PC cohorts, adjusting for age, head motion, and antidepressant/β-blocker use - while applying a cluster-wise correction.

resultsCardiac (IBI and HRV) metrics did not differ between FND and PC cohorts, and these metrics did not correlate with FND symptom severity, somatic symptom burden, affective symptoms, or childhood trauma. In FND, shorter IBI (i.e., faster resting heart rate) correlated with higher weighted-degree rsFC in bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA) and right precentral/superior frontal regions, whereas lower HRV primarily correlated with higher weighted-degree rsFC in the bilateral SMA, mid-cingulate cortex, and right amygdala, anterior insula, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex. In PCs, autonomic-rsFC associations were more spatially restricted to the bilateral anterior/mid-cingulate and SMA.

conclusionIn FND, individual differences in resting autonomic physiology related to the centrality of brain areas that are part of the central autonomic, salience, and allostatic-interoceptive networks. These findings suggest that the relationship between autonomic physiology and network architecture may be important in FND.

Indexed as

Autonomic Nervous SystemBrainHeart RateNerve NetNervous System DiseasesAdultFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsRestYoung AdultCentral autonomic networkfMRIFunctional neurological disorderHeart rateHeart rate variabilityInterbeat interval

Identifiers

PMID42096799
PMCPMC13157166

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.