Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42393674›Full record

ArticleBMC medicine2026

A lesion-derived brain network of somatic symptoms for transdiagnostic individual application.

Yue Yu, Wenqiang Xu, Yang Ji, Li Qi, Yue Wu, Yuanyuan Guo, Qiang Hua, Lihong Wang, Rui Qian, Tongjian Bai and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Yue Yu *Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Rd, Hefei, 230022, China.
Wenqiang Xu *School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Rd, Hefei, 230032, China.
Yang Ji *Department of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China.
Li QiDepartment of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Rd, Hefei, 230022, China.
Yue WuDepartment of Psychology and Sleep Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China.
Yuanyuan GuoDepartment of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Rd, Hefei, 230022, China.
Qiang HuaSchool of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Rd, Hefei, 230032, China.
Lihong WangDepartment of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China.
Rui QianDepartment of Neurology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China.
Tongjian BaiDepartment of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Rd, Hefei, 230022, China.
Qianqian LiDepartment of Psychology and Sleep Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China.
Feng GengDepartment of Psychology and Sleep Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230601, China.
Yuhui WanCenter for Big Data and Population Health of IHM, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
Kai WangDepartment of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Rd, Hefei, 230022, China. kwang@ahmu.edu.cn.
Gong-Jun JiSchool of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Rd, Hefei, 230032, China. 2015500024@ahmu.edu.cn.
Yanghua TianDepartment of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Rd, Hefei, 230022, China. tianyh@ahmu.edu.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5038-0599

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China 82090034National Natural Science Foundation of China 82371507National Natural Science Foundation of China U24A20702
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSomatic symptoms is an umbrella term that describes distressing somatic complaints occurring across a wide spectrum of diseases. However, their underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. Elucidating their mechanisms could therefore benefit patients with diverse conditions.

methodsUsing a recently validated lesion network mapping method and a large-scale healthy connectome database (n = 652, recruited in Anhui Province, China), we identified a somatic network from brain lesions causing somatic symptoms. The lesion-derived network was validated using independent multimodal neuroimaging signatures of somatic symptoms and interoceptive processing. It was further characterized by transcriptomic, neurochemical, and cognitive meta-analytic mapping. We further assessed the therapeutic potential of the somatic network by quantifying its spatial convergence with empirically validated neuromodulation targets. Finally, to determine whether the group-level network can predict personalized symptom severity across diagnoses, we built a normative model of gray matter volume using Gaussian process regression based on 1,342 healthy controls from Anhui. This model was then used to generate personalized atrophy maps in 399 local somatic patients with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We then assessed whether individual atrophy volume within the somatic network was associated with somatic symptom severity.

resultsWe found that 21 heterogeneous lesions associated somatic symptoms occurred in many different brain locations but were characterized by a common brain network, with the hub region of the right insula and putamen. The somatic network demonstrated strong spatial alignment with multimodal somatic imaging abnormalities from 66 independent studies and interoceptive processing circuits from 69 task-fMRI studies. 11 effective brain stimulation targets were colocalization with the somatic network. In individual transdiagnostic patients, greater atrophy volume within the somatic network was significantly correlated with somatic symptom severity (r = 0.182, p = 0.004), but not with anxiety or depression symptoms.

conclusionsThese convergent findings establish a unified somatic network framework, advancing both mechanistic understanding and precision medicine applications.

Indexed as

BrainMedically Unexplained SymptomsNerve NetAdultAtrophyBrain MappingConnectomeFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedBrain stimulationFunctional connectivityInteroceptionLesion network mappingNormative modelSomatic symptom

Identifiers

PMID42393674
PMCPMC13599187

What Socratic holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.