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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pain. 2015 Apr;156(0 1):S50–S63. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000106

Table 2.

Grey matter MRI

Reference
#		 Sample Analysis Strategy Main Findings
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Seminowicz et al., 2010 Female HC=48
Female IBS=55		 Group differences in grey matter (GM) were investigated using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and cortical thickness analyses Contrast: IBS vs. HC
  • -

    ↓ GM density was observed in the mPFC, vlPFC, PPC, ventral striatum, and thalamus

  • -

    ↑ GM density was observed in the pgACC and OFC.

When controlling for anxiety and depression:
  • -

    group differences in the affective regions were no longer present

  • -

    group differences in the PFC and PPC remained
Jiang et al., 2013 Female HC=155
Male HC=21
Female IBS=70
Male IBS=20		 Group differences in GM were investigated using cortical thickness (CT) analyses Contrast: IBS vs. HC
  • -

    No significant differences in CT were observed

Contrast: Female IBS vs. Female HC
  • -

    ↑ in CT were observed in precentral gyrus and postcentral gyrus

  • -

    ↓ in CT were observed in bilateral aINS, mINS, pINS, and left sgACC
Labus et al., 2014 Female HC=119
Female IBS=82

  1. Group differences in GM density were examined using VBM.

  2. Group differences in global and regional properties of large-scale structural brain networks were examined using graph theoretical methods.

 Contrast: Female IBS vs. Female HC
  • -

    ↑ in GM volume were observed in the left postcentral gyrus

  • -

    ↓ in GM volume were observed in the bilateral SFG, bilateral INS, bilateral amygdala, bilateral mOFG, left cingulate, left gyrus rectus, left putamen, and brainstem


Group differences in regional network organization were observed in the following:
  • -

    In IBS, right cingulate and right lateral OFG are essential for maintaining global connectedness

  • -

    In IBS, right cingulate gyrus and right thalamus are essential for maintain regional betweeness (i.e. controlling flow of information)

  • -

    In IBS, left cingulate gyrus, right caudate and left hippocampus were essential for maintain clustering coefficients (i.e. most densely connected)

  • -

    In IBS, network hubs included the right parahippocampal gyrus, left lingual gyrus, brainstem, right thalamus, left IFG, and left INS gyrus
Elsenbruch et al., 2014 Female HC=52
Male HC=40		 Correlations between GM VBM in regions in pain relevant regions and visceral sensitivity were conducted using linear regression models Using rectal sensory pain thresholds to measure visceral sensitivity:
  • -

    ↑ sensitivity was associated with ↓ GM volumes in the thalamus, INS, PCC, vlPFC, OFC, amygdala, and basal ganglia

  • -

    ↓ sensitivity was associated with ↓ GM volume in the right thalamus
Functional Dyspepsia (FD)
Zeng et al., 2013 Female HC=26
Male HC=14
Female FD=32
Male FD=18		 Group differences in GM density were examined using VBM in meal related FD subjects compared to HCs Contrast: FD vs. HC
  • -

    In the FD group, ↓ in GM density were observed in the left OFC, right INS, bilateral precentral gyrus, SFG, MFG, IFG, ACC, and MCC

  • -

    In the FD group, after controlling for anxiety and depression, ↓ in GM density were observed in the bilateral MFG, left MCC, right precentral gyrus, SFG, IFG, and INS

Correlations:
The structural ↓ in the ACC were significantly negatively correlated with dyspepsia symptom severity and dyspepsia symptom duration
Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis (PBS/IC)
Kairys et al., 2014 Female HC=33
Female PBD/IC=33		 Group differences in GM density were examined using VBM Contrast PBS/IC vs. HC
  • -

    In PBS/IC subjects, ↑ in GM volume were observed in the right primary somatosensory cortex (S1), bilateral superior parietal lobule, right SMA

Correlations:
GM volume in the right S1 was significantly positively correlated with pain, anxiety, and urological symptoms

Abbreviations:

Groups: IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; FD, functional dyspepsia; BPS/IC, bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis; HC, healthy control GM, grey matter; CT, cortical thickness; VBM, voxel based morphometry; Regions/Networks: PFC, prefrontal cortex; mPFC, medial prefrontal cortex; vlPFC, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex; PPC, posterior parietal cortex;

pgACC, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex; sgACC, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex; ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; PCC, posterior cingulate cortex; MCC, mid cingulate cortex; OFC, orbital frontal cortex; mOFG, medial orbital frontal gyrus; aINS, anterior insula; mINS, mid insula; pINS, posterior insula; SFG, superior frontal gyrus; IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; MFG, middle frontal gyrus; SMA, supplementary motor area