Cognitive Training to Enhance Brain Concordance During Acupuncture

Who can take part

• Meet traditional American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for FM as well as the more recent Wolfe et al 2011 criteria
• Are on stable doses of medication for 30 days prior to entering the study and agree not to change medications or dosages during the trial
• Ability to fully understand and consent to study procedures
• Baseline pain intensity of at least 4/10
• Pain duration of at least 6 months

Who cannot take part

• Concurrent inflammatory or autoimmune disease
• Unwillingness to withhold from consuming marijuana 12 hours prior to scans
• Unwillingness to withhold from consuming nicotine 4 hours prior to scans
• Presence of any illness that is judged to interfere with the trial. For example: psychiatric disorder according to the DSM-IV manual
• Presence of any contraindications to fMRI scanning. For example: cardiac pacemaker, metal implants, fear of closed spaces, pregnancy
• History of significant head injury
• Comorbid acute pain condition
• Comorbid chronic pain condition that is rated by the subject as more painful than fibromyalgia
• Any psychiatric disorder involving a history of psychosis (e. g schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe personality disorders)
• History of anxiety disorders or significant anxiety symptoms interfering with fMRI procedures (e.g., panic)
• Psychiatric hospitalization in the past 6 months
• Any impairment, activity or situation that in the judgment of the Study Coordinator or Principal Investigator would prevent satisfactory completion of the study protocol
• Recent history of formal meditation-based training
• Any longer period of work experience involving pain treatment, pain rehabilitation etc
• Inability to respond accurately to the pain-relieving intervention in the behavioral part of the experiment, indicating a lack of response to the expectancy manipulation. If the healthy volunteer or clinician is not a responder to the behavioral expectancy induction he or she will be excluded
• Unwillingness to receive brief experimental pain
• Leg pain or health issues that may interfere with the study procedures
• Current use of opioid analgesics
• Documented peripheral neuropathy
• Pregnant
• Is an actual clinical patient of the clinician subject