The role of long‐term physical exercise on performance and brain activation during the Stroop colour word task in fibromyalgia patients

• Published in: Clinical physiology and functional imaging Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 508 - 516
• Main Authors: Martinsen, S., Flodin, P., Berrebi, J., Löfgren, M., Bileviciute‐Ljungar, I., Mannerkorpi, K., Ingvar, M., Fransson, P., Kosek, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2018
• Subjects: Activation; Adult; Amygdala; Analgesia; Attention; Automation; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiopathology; Brain Mapping - methods; Clinical Medicine; Cognition; Cognitive ability; cognitive performance; Cognitive tasks; Color; Cortex; Exercise; Exercise Therapy; Female; Fibromyalgia; Fibromyalgia - diagnosis; Fibromyalgia - physiopathology; Fibromyalgia - psychology; Fibromyalgia - therapy; functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Information processing; Klinisk medicin; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Neural plasticity; neuroimaging; pain; Pain Measurement; Pain perception; Patients; Physical exercise; Population studies; Predictive Value of Tests; Quality of Life; Reaction Time; Stroop task; Stroop Test; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sweden; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Stroop task; amygdala; pain; fibromyalgia; cognitive performance; functional magnetic resonance imaging; neuroimaging
• ISSN: 1475-0961; 1475-097X; 1475-097X
• DOI: 10.1111/cpf.12449

Summary The Stroop colour word test (SCWT) has been widely used to assess changes in cognitive performance such as processing speed, selective attention and the degree of automaticity. Moreover, the SCWT has proven to be a valuable tool to assess neuronal plasticity that is coupled to improvement in performance in clinical populations. In a previous study, we showed impaired cognitive processing during SCWT along with reduced task‐related activations in patients with fibromyalgia. In this study, we used SCWT and functional magnetic resonance imagingFMRI to investigate the effects of a 15‐week physical exercise intervention on cognitive performance, task‐related cortical activation and distraction‐induced analgesia (DIA) in patients with fibromyalgia and healthy controls. The exercise intervention yielded reduced fibromyalgia symptoms, improved cognitive processing and increased task‐related activation of amygdala, but no effect on DIA. Our results suggest beneficial effects of physical exercise on cognitive functioning in FM.