Abnormality of spontaneous brain activities in patients with chronic neck and shoulder pain: A resting-state fMRI study

OBJECTIVES: Chronic gneck and shoulder pain (CNSP) is a common clinical symptom of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. Several studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) have reported that most chronic pain diseases are accompanied by structural and functional changes in the brain. However, few rs-fMRI studies have examined CNSP. The current study investigated cerebral structural and functional changes in CNSP patients. METHODS: In total, 25 CNSP patients and 20 healthy volunteers participated in the study. 3D-T1W and rs-fMRI images were acquired. Voxel-based morphometry analysis was applied to structural images, and regional homogeneity (ReHo) was extracted from rs-fMRI. Statistical analysis was performed on post-processing images and ReHo parameter maps. RESULTS: The results revealed no significant differences in brain structure between the two groups. In the patient group, ReHo values were significantly increased in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus and decreased in the left insula, superior frontal gyrus, middle cingulate gyrus, supplementary motor area, right postcentral gyrus, and superior parietal lobule. CONCLUSIONS: This initial structural and rs-fMRI study of CNSP revealed characteristic features of spontaneous brain activity of CNSP patients. These findings may be helpful for increasing our understanding of the neuropathology of CNSP.