Section of Neurology, Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics (BIND), University of Palermo, Palermo 90127, Italy.
Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care,Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (DIBIMIS), University of Palermo, Palermo 90127, Italy.
Pain Res Manag. 2022 Sep 25;2022:7355102. doi: 10.1155/2022/7355102. eCollection 2022.
Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by spontaneous chronic widespread pain in combination with hyperalgesia to pressure stimuli. Sound-induced flash illusions (SIFIs) reflect cross-modal interactions between senses allowing to assess a visual cortical hoerexcitability (VCH) by evaluating the fission and fusion illusions disruption. The aims of the present study were to explore whether SIFIs are perceived differently in patients with fibromyalgia as compared to healthy controls (HCs) and how migraine affects fission and fusion illusions in fibromyalgia.
A single flash (F) accompanied by 0 to 4 beeps (B) was presented to induce the fission illusion while multiple flash (i.e., 2 to 4) accompanied by 0 or 1 beep was presented to induce fusion illusion. The mean number of perceived flashes in fission and fusion illusion trials was compared between the groups (i.e., FM, FM with migraine, and HCs) using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Medication history was recorded along with the administration of Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression scales.
Twenty-four patients with FM (mean age 51, 2 ± 10, 6 years; 22 females), seventeen patients with FM and migraine without aura (mean age 47.8 ± 11.4 years; 16 females; 13 chronic, 4 episodic migraine), and forty-one age- and sex-matched HCs (mean age 47.3 ± 6.9 years; 34 females) participated in the study. Fission and fusion illusory effects were detected in all the participants. However, in FM patients, the fission illusion was reduced and almost abolished as compared to HCs (1F1B, = 0.02; 1F2B, < 0.0001; 1F3B, < 0.0001; 1F4B, = 0.0001), while there were no differences between groups in fusion trials. Migraine did not affect the fission and the fusion illusions.
Results from this study confirm that patients with FM have a VCH suggesting that the pathological changes in cortical excitability might have important roles in the pathophysiology of FM. SIFI represents a noninvasive behavioral tool for the exploration of cross-sensory functional interplay.
纤维肌痛（FM）的特征是自发性慢性广泛性疼痛，伴有对压力刺激的痛觉过敏。声音诱导的闪光错觉（SIFI）反映了感觉之间的跨模态相互作用，通过评估分裂和融合错觉的破坏，可以评估视觉皮质兴奋（VCH）。本研究的目的是探讨 SIFI 在纤维肌痛患者中的感知是否与健康对照组（HCs）不同，以及偏头痛如何影响纤维肌痛中的分裂和融合错觉。
一个单闪光（F）伴随着 0 到 4 个蜂鸣声（B）被呈现以诱导分裂错觉，而多个闪光（即 2 到 4 个）伴随着 0 或 1 个蜂鸣声被呈现以诱导融合错觉。使用重复测量方差分析比较组间（即 FM、FM 伴偏头痛和 HCs）的分裂和融合错觉试验中感知到的闪光次数。记录药物史，并同时进行纤维肌痛影响问卷和医院焦虑和抑郁量表的评估。
24 名纤维肌痛患者（平均年龄 51.0±10.6 岁；22 名女性）、17 名纤维肌痛伴无先兆偏头痛患者（平均年龄 47.8±11.4 岁；16 名女性；13 名慢性偏头痛，4 名发作性偏头痛）和 41 名年龄和性别匹配的 HCs（平均年龄 47.3±6.9 岁；34 名女性）参加了这项研究。所有参与者都检测到了分裂和融合错觉效应。然而，在纤维肌痛患者中，与 HCs 相比，分裂错觉减少甚至几乎消失（1F1B， = 0.02；1F2B，<0.0001；1F3B，<0.0001；1F4B，= 0.0001），而在融合试验中组间无差异。偏头痛对分裂和融合错觉没有影响。
本研究结果证实，纤维肌痛患者存在 VCH，提示皮质兴奋性的病理性变化可能在纤维肌痛的病理生理学中起重要作用。SIFI 是一种用于探索跨感觉功能相互作用的非侵入性行为工具。
