Headache frequency associates with brain microstructure changes in patients with migraine without aura

Background Brain excitability is changed in migraine but not fully characterized yet. This study explored if somatosensory gating is altered in migraine and linked to migraine chronification. Methods Paired electrical stimuli were delivered to the left index fingers of 21 patients with migraine without aura (MO), 22 patients with chronic migraine (CM), and 36 controls. The first and second responses to the paired stimuli were obtained from the contralateral primary (cSI), contralateral secondary (cSII) and ipsilateral secondary (iSII) somatosensory cortices to compute the gating ratios (second vs. first response strengths). Results The first and second cSI responses and gating ratios differed in all groups ( p < 0.05); the responses were typically smaller in the MO and CM groups. The cSI gating ratio increased as a continuum across controls (0.73 ± 0.04, p < 0.001), MO (0.83 ± 0.04) to CM (0.97 ± 0.06) and was higher in CM vs. controls ( p < 0.001). When MO and CM were combined, cSI gating ratio was associated with headache frequency (r = 0.418, p = 0.005). Paired responses and gating ratios of cSII and iSII did not differ among the groups. Conclusions Somatosensory gating is altered in migraine and associated with headache chronification. Further studies must clarify if this abnormal sensory modulation is a true gating deficit independent of low preexcitation level.

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Migraine

Oxford Textbook of Neurologic and Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/med/9780198749493.003.0022 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 213-224

Author(s):

Julio R Vieira ◽

Richard B Lipton

Keyword(s):

Chronic Migraine ◽

Migraine With Aura ◽

Cortical Spreading Depression ◽

Migraine Without Aura ◽

Spreading Depression ◽

Headache Frequency ◽

Motor Symptoms ◽

Migraine Aura ◽

Younger Age ◽

Psychiatric Conditions

This chapter examines migraine. The incidence of migraine varies depending on multiple aspects, including age, sex, and the presence of aura. At an earlier age (younger than age ten), migraine initially affects more boys than girls, with migraine with aura (MA) occurring at a younger age than migraine without aura (MO). Later in life, when puberty starts, this relationship changes and it becomes more common in women than men. Migraine aura are focal neurological symptoms that typically occur prior to the onset of a headache due to a phenomenon called cortical spreading depression. The prevalence of migraine with aura vary between visual, sensory, or motor symptoms. It can also present as diplopia, slurred speech, aphasia, dizziness, vertigo, and hemiparesis. Moreover, the prevalence of migraine varies according to headache frequency. The chapter then looks at chronic migraine and menstrual migraine. It also explores several comorbidities associated with migraine, including many neurologic, medical, and psychiatric conditions.

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Diffusion tensor imaging detects early brain microstructure changes before and after ventriculoperitoneal shunt in children with high intracranial pressure hydrocephalus

Medicine ◽

10.1097/md.0000000000005063 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 95 (42) ◽

pp. e5063 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Cailei Zhao ◽

Yongxin Li ◽

Weiguo Cao ◽

Kui Xiang ◽

Heye Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diffusion Tensor Imaging ◽

Intracranial Pressure ◽

Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Microstructure Changes ◽

Before And After ◽

Brain Microstructure

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Long-term tract-specific white matter microstructural changes after acute stress

Brain Imaging and Behavior ◽

10.1007/s11682-020-00380-w ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Linghui Meng ◽

Tong Shan ◽

Kaiming Li ◽

Qiyong Gong

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Corticospinal Tract ◽

Acute Stress ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Symptom Improvement ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Substantial Impact ◽

Microstructure Changes ◽

Brain Microstructure

Abstract Acute stress has substantial impact on white matter microstructure of people exposed to trauma. Its long-term consequence and how the brain changes from the stress remain unclear. In this study, we address this issue via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Twenty-two trauma-exposed individuals who did not meet post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnostic criteria were recruited from the most affected area of Wenchuan earthquake and scanned twice (within twenty-five days and two years after the quake, respectively). Their emotional distress was evaluated with the Self-Rating Anxiety/Depression Scales (SAS/SDS) at both scans. Automatic fiber quantification was used to examine brain microstructure alterations. Correlation analyses were also conducted to investigate relationships between brain microstructure changes and symptom improvement. A group of demographically matched healthy controls (N = 22) from another project were scanned once before the quake using the same imaging protocols as used with trauma-exposed non-PTSD (TENP) participants. Two years after the earthquake, TENP individuals exhibited significantly reduced FA in the parietal portion of left superior longitudinal fasciculus and high FA in the parietal portion of left corticospinal tract. Over the follow-up, increased FA of the left uncinate fasciculus and the left corticospinal tract with parallel reduction of SAS and SDS were observed in TENP. No significant association was found between brain microstructure changes and symptom improvement. These results indicate changes in WM microstructure integrity of TENP brains parallel with symptom improvement over time after acute stress. However, the change would be a long-term process without external intervention.

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Thickening of the somatosensory cortex in migraine without aura

Cephalalgia ◽

10.1177/0333102414531155 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 34 (14) ◽

pp. 1125-1133 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Ji Hyun Kim ◽

Jung Bin Kim ◽

Sang-il Suh ◽

Woo-Keun Seo ◽

Kyungmi Oh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Cortical Thickness ◽

Migraine Without Aura ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Disease Duration ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Afferent Input ◽

Headache Frequency ◽

Cortical Thickening ◽

Clinical Variables

Objective We aimed to explore cortical thickness abnormalities in a homogeneous group of patients with migraine without aura and to delineate possible relationships between cortical thickness changes and clinical variables. Methods Fifty-six female migraine patients without aura and T2-visible white matter hyperintensities and 34 female controls were scanned on a 3T magnetic resonance imager. Cortical thickness was estimated and compared between patients and controls using a whole-brain vertex-by-vertex analysis. Correlation analysis was conducted between cortical thickness of significant clusters and clinical variables. Results Compared to controls, migraine patients had cortical thickening in left rostral middle frontal gyrus and bilateral post-central gyri. Region-of-interest analysis revealed cortical thickening of bilateral post-central gyri in migraine patients relative to controls. The average thickness of bilateral post-central gyri positively correlated with disease duration as well as estimated lifetime headache frequency. Conclusions We have provided evidence for interictal cortical abnormalities of thickened prefrontal cortex and somatosensory cortex in female migraine patients without aura. Our findings of greater thickening of the somatosensory cortex in relation to increasing disease duration and increasing headache frequency suggest that repeated migraine attacks over time may lead to structural changes of the somatosensory cortex through increased noxious afferent input within the trigemino-thalamo-cortical pathway in migraine.

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Visual and auditory perceptual rivalry in migraine

Cephalalgia ◽

10.1177/0333102411404715 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 31 (11) ◽

pp. 1158-1169 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Allison M McKendrick ◽

Josephine Battista ◽

Joel S Snyder ◽

Olivia L Carter

Keyword(s):

Migraine With Aura ◽

Migraine Without Aura ◽

Serotonergic System ◽

Brain Serotonin ◽

Headache Frequency ◽

Sensory Reactivity ◽

Subtype Classification ◽

Perceptual Rivalry

Introduction: Recent evidence demonstrates that perceptual rivalry rate can be modulated by perturbation of the serotonergic system. Specifically, pharmacologically lowering the availability of serotonin results in slower rivalry rates. As it has been suggested that brain serotonin is low during the interictal phase of migraine, we hypothesized that perceptual rivalry rates would be reduced in individuals with migraine. Methods: Visual and auditory perceptual rivalry measures were obtained for a group of 30 participants with migraine (15 migraine with aura, 15 migraine without aura) and 20 non-headache control individuals. Results: Our experiments reveal fewer perceptual rivalry switches within both visual and auditory domains for our migraine without aura group, while the with-aura group performed similarly to non-headache controls. Dividing the data by headache frequency rather than headache subtype classification revealed fewer perceptual switches in those with more frequent headaches. Conclusions: Our data provides further support for interictal differences in brain sensory reactivity in migraine, with the observed effects being in the same direction as those caused by pharmacologically reducing brain availability of serotonin in normal observers.

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Effects of Topiramate on Migraine Frequency and Cortical Excitability in Patients with Frequent Migraine

Cephalalgia ◽

10.1111/j.1468-2982.2007.01491.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 203-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

AR Artemenko ◽

AL Kurenkov ◽

EG Filatova ◽

SS Nikitin ◽

H Kaube ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Migraine Without Aura ◽

Cortical Excitability ◽

Headache Frequency ◽

Migraine Prevention ◽

Migraine Frequency ◽

Before And After ◽

The Right

We studied the excitability of the visual and motor cortex in 36 patients with frequent migraine without aura (30 women, mean age 38.6 ± 10.0 years) before and after treatment with topiramate (100 mg/day) using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Treatment with topiramate resulted in reduction of both headache frequency (12.0 ± 1.3 to 5.8 ± 3.2 migraine days per month; P = 0.004) and cortical excitability: motor cortex thresholds increased on the right side from 43.8 ± 7.5% to 47.7 ± 9.2% ( P = 0.049) and on the left side from 43.4 ± 7.0% to 47.2 ± 9.6% ( P = 0.047), and phosphene thresholds increased from 58.9 ± 11.1% to 71.2 ± 11.2% ( P = 0.0001). Reduction of headache frequency correlated inversely with an increase of visual thresholds and did not correlate with motor thresholds. The effect of topiramate in migraine prevention is complex and can not be explained simply by inhibition of cortical excitability.

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Evaluation of Brain Microstructure Changes in Surviving Fetus of Monochorionic Twin Pregnancies With Demise of One Fetus Using Apparent Diffusion Coefficient

10.21203/rs.3.rs-347569/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ran Huo ◽

Yuan Wei ◽

Zheng Wang ◽

Qiang Zhao ◽

Huishu Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diffusion Coefficient ◽

Apparent Diffusion Coefficient ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Area Under The Curve ◽

Microstructure Changes ◽

Parietal Lobes ◽

Apparent Diffusion ◽

Adc Values ◽

Brain Microstructure ◽

Occipital Lobes

Abstract Objective To compare the differences of brain apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in surviving fetuses, twin controls and single fetus controls using diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) sequence, and to perform follow-up study to reveal the underlying cerebral microstructure changes. Materials and methods Thirty-two twins with demise of one fetus, 25 twins, and 20 single fetuses were included. DWI was performed and ADC map was reconstructed automatically. ADC values of certain regions were compared among three-groups, and between left- and right-hemisphere in surviving fetuses. ROC was generated to identify ADC values in surviving fetuses and twin controls. Results ADC values were lower in bilateral white matter of frontal lobes (left: 1.68 ± 0.19 vs. 1.91 ± 0.26, 1.88 ± 0.19, P < 0.001; right: 1.68 ± 0.18 vs. 1.86 ± 0.24, 1.84 ± 0.21, P = 0.002), parietal lobes (left: 1.80 ± 0.25 vs. 2.00 ± 0.21, 1.92 ± 0.28, P = 0.012; right: 1.81 ± 0.19 vs. 1.99 ± 0.24, 1.92 ± 0.26, P = 0.012) and occipital lobes (left: 1.72 ± 0.24 vs. 1.87 ± 0.20, 1.70 ± 0.24, P = 0.017; right: 1.73 ± 0.23 vs. 1.91 ± 0.22, 1.70 ± 0.27, P = 0.005) in surviving fetuses compared with twin controls and single fetus, respectively. In discriminating surviving fetuses and twin controls, the area-under-the-curve of ADC values in frontal, parietal and occipital lobes were range from 0.677 to 0.737. The combination of frontal and parietal lobes and gestational age had highest area-under-the-curve (0.771, 95% CI 0.648–0.894). Conclusions DWI is a very useful sequence for detecting underlying changes. ADC values might be effective indicators of subtle anomalies in surviving fetuses. Trial registration: None.

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