{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:35:02Z","timestamp":1787027702146,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,20]],"date-time":"2020-06-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1592611200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>(1) Background: Recently, a series of clinical neuroimaging studies on fibromyalgia (FM) have shown a reduction in cortical volume and abnormally high glutamate (Glu) and glutamate + glutamine (Glx) levels in regions associated with pain modulation. However, it remains unclear whether the volumetric decreases and increased Glu levels in FM are related each other. We hypothesized that higher Glu levels are related to decreases in cortical thickness (CT) and volume in FM patients. (2) Methods: Twelve females with FM and 12 matched healthy controls participated in a session of combined 3.0 Tesla structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single-voxel MR spectroscopy focused on the thalami and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (VLPFC). The thickness of the cortical and subcortical gray matter structures and the Glu\/Cr and Glx\/Cr ratios were estimated. Statistics included an independent t-test and Spearman\u2019s test. (3) Results: The Glu\/Cr ratio of the left VLPFC was negatively related to the CT of the left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis (p = 0.01; r = \u22120.75) and triangularis (p = 0.01; r = \u22120.70)). Moreover, the Glx\/Cr ratio of the left VLPFC was negatively related to the CT of the left middle anterior cingulate gyrus (p = 0.003; r = \u22120.81). Significantly lower CTs in FM were detected in subparts of the cingulate gyrus on both sides and in the right inferior occipital gyrus (p &lt; 0.001). (4) Conclusions: Our findings are in line with previous observations that high glutamate levels can be related, in a concentration-dependent manner, to the morphological atrophy described in FM patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci10060395","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,22]],"date-time":"2020-06-22T06:46:12Z","timestamp":1592808372000},"page":"395","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Neurochemical Correlates of Brain Atrophy in Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Cortical Thickness Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3707-018X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paola","family":"Feraco","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroradiology Unit, S. Chiara Hospital, Largo Medaglie d\u2019oro 9, 38122 Trento, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), University of Bologna, Via San Giacomo 14, 40100 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salvatore","family":"Nigro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroscience Research Center, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, Viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Passamonti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK"},{"name":"Istituto di Bioimmagini e Fisiologia Molecolare (IBFM), CNR, Via Fratelli Cervi, Segrate, 93-20090 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6043-2196","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Grecucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini, 84 I-38068 Rovereto, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2030-5552","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Eugenia","family":"Caligiuri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroscience Research Center, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, Viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4088-2020","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cesare","family":"Gagliardo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Radiological Sciences, Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Via Del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antonella","family":"Bacci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroradiology Unit, IRCSS Istituto Delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Via Altura 3, 40100 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"160","DOI":"10.1002\/art.1780330203","article-title":"The American College of Rheumatology 1990 Criteria for the Classification of Fibromyalgia. 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