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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Imaging Methods
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1556639
A Meta-Analysis of Resting-State fMRI in Postherpetic Neuralgia using AES-SDM
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Radiology, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
- 2 Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Hospital of Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
Background: Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) has been shown to reveal a range of neural activity patterns in patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). However, inconsistencies in study design have led to conflicting findings across previous research studies. This meta-analysis employed the anisotropic effect size-signed differential mapping (AES-SDM) approach to evaluate rs-fMRI studies on PHN, with the aim of providing more robust insights into the brain networks involved in PHN pain processing.A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database was performed for rs-fMRI studies comparing PHN patients with healthy controls up to 1 November 2024. The AES-SDM approach was then used to meta-analyze the abnormal brain activity patterns of PHN patients.Results: A total of eight articles comprising 148 patients with PHN and 179 healthy controls were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that patients with PHN exhibited increased activity in the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG.R), right precuneus (PCUN.R), and right superior frontal gyrus, orbital part (ORBsup.R). A reduction in functional activity was observed in the left superior frontal gyrus, medial (SFGmed.L), left calcarine fissure/surrounding cortex (CAL.L), right precentral gyrus (PreCG.R), and right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG.R). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that all these regions exhibited high reproducibility, and no significant publication bias was identified.This meta-analysis reveals altered specific brain activity in PHN patients, providing a basis for targeted treatments that address both the sensory and affective dimensions of chronic pain.
Keywords: postherpetic neuralgia, Chronic Pain, Meta-analysis, AES-SDM, RS-fMRI
Received: 07 Jan 2025; Accepted: 12 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Luo, Guo, Lv and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jianfeng Yang, Department of Radiology, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
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