Brain training may ease fibromyalgia pain, new study suggests
NCT ID NCT07023523
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether people with fibromyalgia can learn to control their own brain activity using real-time brain scans (fMRI) to reduce pain. Participants will either receive cognitive behavioral therapy or fibromyalgia education over 8 weeks. The goal is to see if self-regulating brain regions linked to pain can lead to lasting relief.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 36 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2025
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 65 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Aged 18-65 2. Meet the Wolfe et al 2011 research criteria for fibromyalgia for at least one year 3. On stable doses of medication prior to entering the study and agree not to change medications or dosages (or CAM treatments) during the trial 4. Baseline pain intensity of at least 4/10 on average and pain report for at least 50% of days 5. Able to provide written consent and fluent in English Exclusion Criteria: 1. Comorbid acute pain condition 2. Comorbid chronic pain condition that is rated by the subject as more painful than fibromyalgia 3. Stimulant medications for the fatigue associated with sleep apnea or shift work (e.g., modafinil), 4. Pregnant or nursing 5. Any psychiatric disorder involving a history of psychosis (e. g schizophrenia, severe personality disorders) 6. History of anxiety disorders or significant anxiety symptoms interfering with fMRI procedures (e.g., panic) 7. Contraindication to MRI (e.g., implanted ferrous metal) 8. History of significant head injury (e.g., with substantial loss of consciousness) 9. Psychiatric hospitalization in the past 6 months 10. Other contraindications to MRI 11. Participating in other therapeutic trials 12. Active suicidal ideation 13. Documented peripheral neuropathy of known cause (e.g diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, guillain-barre) 14. Routine or daily use of narcotics or substances of abuse 15. Autoimmune or inflammatory disease (RA, SLE, IBD) that causes pain 16. Lower Limb Vascular Surgery or Current Lower Limb Vascular Dysfunction 17. Any impairment, activity or situation that in the judgment of the Study Coordinator or Principal Investigator that would prevent satisfactory completion of the study protocol. This includes unreliable, or inconsistent pain scores as deemed by the principal investigator.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02129, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can a Hands-On nerve technique ease Fibromyalgia's grip?
- Why some days hurt more: charting Fibromyalgia's daily swings
- Zapping the vagus nerve: a new hope for fibromyalgia pain?
- Can a Video-Call stretching program ease fibromyalgia pain?
- Writing as medicine: can words soothe chronic pain?