In these days when International Fibromyalgia Day is celebrated, we continue to find relevant findings for the understanding of this disease, less and less unknown. Fibromyalgia is a generalized chronic pain syndrome that is accompanied by other types of physical symptoms (such as intense fatigue or morning stiffness), emotional (depression, anxiety) and cognitive (disturbances in complex attention, memory and executive functions ). Although there are many researchers who carry out studies on this disease, we still do not know the exact causes that originate it. However, little by little results are obtained in the attempt to explain what happens to these people. In this sense, we find the recent work of Christina S. Mc Crae, from the University of Florida (United States,) and her team of collaborators.
Fibromyalgia patients often complain of memory problems, something that has also been observed in different investigations in this regard. But, is there a problem in the brain structures that are related to memory in these patients? To answer this question, Mc Crae and his colleagues performed MRI scans on a group of 40 women with fibromyalgia and a comparison group of 22 healthy women, with the intention of comparing the size and volume of their hippocampi. Remember that the hippocampus is a structure inside the brain that plays a very important role in the proper functioning of memory (among other things).
The result of the research, recently published in the Journal of Pain Research (2015), showed that fibromyalgia patients had significantly less hippocampus in both cerebral hemispheres, without this being related to the degree of depression they might present.
According to the authors, atrophy in the hippocampus in these patients could be related to failures in the regulation of neurotransmitters such as glutamate or gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) or also to the fact of suffering from chronic stress, as an expression of alterations in the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the regulation of glucocorticoids. Although this issue should continue to be studied, little by little the idea that fibromyalgia is not a phantom but a real entity is being supported, which severely affects those who suffer from it. In the end, what matters is finding tools that help patients improve their cognitive functioning and have a better quality of life.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain.
