Volitional limbic neuromodulation exerts a beneficial clinical effect on Fibromyalgia

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/ Goldway N, Ablin J, Lubin O, Zamir Y, Keynan JN, Or-Borichev A, Cavazza M, Charles F, Intrator N, Brill S, Ben-Simon E, Sharon H, Hendler T.

NeuroImage 186 (2019) 758–770

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Demonstrating the feasibility of amygdala-EFP neurofeedback for treatment of chronic pain in fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is a somatic disorder characterized by widespread pain and associated with sleep disturbance and emotional dysregulation. The latter are known to be modulated by limbic activity, which involves the amygdala. The authors utilized the amygdala-EFP to examine its feasibility in treating fibromyalgia in a 5-week neurofeedback training protocol. Fibromyalgia patients were randomly assigned to either amygdala-EFP neurofeedback or sham-neurofeedback conditions. Sleep quality was largely improved following amygdala-EFP neurofeedback but not in the sham group. The same patients also reported an improvement in clinical symptoms during a follow-up assessment, but not immediately after training. The extent to which the training improved the patient’s sleep, predicted the later improvement in clinical symptoms.

 

This demonstrates the potential benefits of amygdala-EFP neurofeedback for treatment of somatic disorders, based on its close relationship with limbic dysregulation.
 

To read the full article on NeuroImage -https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053811918320718