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Experimental assessment of affective processing in fibromyalgia
The Journal of Pain, 07/31/09

Bartley EJ et al. – Data suggest that fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is associated with enhanced defensive activation to nonpainful threat-related stimuli, but not deficits in appetitive reactions to erotic stimuli. These findings have implications for the treatment and study of FMS.

• Aim was to ascertain whether pts with FMS have problems in affective processing
• Study used a well-validated picture-viewing paradigm to evoke emotional responses in 17 pts with FMS and 17 sex- and age-matched healthy control
• Each participant viewed pleasant (erotica), neutral, and unpleasant (attack related) pictures
• Abrupt white noises were delivered during two-thirds of the pictures to evoke startle eyeblinks
• Appetitive and defensive responding was assessed from:
  • Subjective: valence/pleasure and arousal ratings, and
  • Physiological: corrugator EMG, heart rate, skin-conductance response, startle-reflex modulation
    reactions to pictures

• FMS was associated with greater defensive activation (displeasure, subjective arousal, corrugator EMG) to the unpleasant, threat-related pictures, but not deficits in appetitive activation to erotic pictures
• Individuals with FMS have deficits in affective processing, but this dysregulation may be limited to defensive activation

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