High resolution EEG microstate framework in fibromyalgia: An integrated multivariate and source localization approach to pain-related dynamics.

Researchers found group-level EEG microstate and estimated source differences in fibromyalgia. The most discriminative pattern performed below a commonly used clinical-interpretability threshold, so the work does not support individual diagnosis.

Soldic D, Martín-Buro MC, Rubio-González C, Peláez I, Ueda M, Ishii R, Yamada K, Ueno K, García-Montes M, Ferrera D, Fernandes-Magalhaes R, Mercado F.
International Journal of Psychophysiology · Publication date: 2026-10-01
Added to site: 2026-10-02
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2026.113482

Electronic publication date verified in PubMed. Crossref records October 2026 at month precision. This source date is separate from the site's addition date.

Modalities

EEG, QEEG, eLORETA

Clinical focus

Fibromyalgia, EEG microstates, Pain-related networks

Population

Women with fibromyalgia and healthy comparison participants

Sample

57 women: 29 with fibromyalgia and 28 healthy controls

Intervention / method

Five minutes of eyes-closed resting-state EEG were analyzed with an 11-microstate template, leave-one-out linear discriminant analysis and eLORETA source estimation

Comparator

Healthy controls, with microstate features also tested against clinical measures within the fibromyalgia group

Clinician summary

Microstate G produced AUC 0.63. Source-level differences involved the insula, middle frontal and postcentral regions across selected microstates, while no association with pain or fatigue measures survived multiple-comparison correction.

How to interpret the findings

The study was small, cross-sectional and limited to women. Leave-one-out evaluation did not provide independent external validation, AUC 0.63 was below the authors' cited 0.75 interpretability threshold, and corrected clinical associations were null. eLORETA results are estimated sources, not direct intracranial measurements.

Equipment and disclosures

Resting-state EEG and eLORETA source estimation were used; amplifier, montage, preprocessing and reference details were not available in the checked abstract.

Competing-interest details were not available in the checked abstract. Crossref identifies support from Spain's Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Related evidence

Compare findings from the same clinical area, including mixed results.

• A safety and feasibility randomized placebo controlled trial exploring electroencephalographic effective connectivity neurofeedback treatment for fibromyalgia. · Mixed
• EEG Microstate Alterations in Anhedonia Subtypes of Major Depressive Disorder and Their Modulation by Intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation. · Positive with limitations