The Alterations in the Brain Corresponding to Low Back Pain: Recent Insights and Advances

Table 5

Evaluation of white matter alterations in back pain patients.

Subjects	Assessed indices	Main findings	Reference
14 CLBP patients	Whole brain white matter FA	FA in left INS white matter↑↑, No significant differences in INS right white matter	[69]
17 patients with NSLBP	Global network measures	The structural network values of patients NSLBP ↓↓	[73]
120 SBP patients	Whole brain white matter integrity, Regional white matter	FA values in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus↓, the left retro-lenticular part of the internal capsule↓, part of the corpus callosum including the anterior corona radiata↓	[74]
159 SBP patients	FC in white matter networks	White matter connections between nodes concentrated within the corticolimbic system ↑	[75]
103 chronic LBP patients	S1-adjacent white matter skeleton FA	FA in both left and right S1 ROI, and left S1 ROIs in CLBP↓	[25]
16 CBLP patients	global and regional white matter high intensities	Regional WMH in left hemispheric tracts: anterior thalamic radiation, lower cingulate, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus branch to the temporal lobe	[76]

CLBP, chronic low back pain; FA, fractional anisotropy; NSLBP, nonspecific low back pain; ROI, regions of interest; S1 cortex, primary somatosensory cortex; SBP, subacute back pain; WMH, white matter hyperintensities.