Impaired intrinsic functional connectivity between the thalamus and visual cortex in migraine without aura

Abstract Background Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has confirmed disrupted visual network connectivity in migraine without aura (MwoA). The thalamus plays a pivotal role in a number of pain conditions, including migraine. However, the significance of altered thalamo-visual functional connectivity (FC) in migraine remains unknown. The goal of this study was to explore thalamo-visual FC integrity in patients with MwoA and investigate its clinical significance. Methods Resting-state fMRI data were acquired from 33 patients with MwoA and 22 well-matched healthy controls. After identifying the visual network by independent component analysis, we compared neural activation in the visual network and thalamo-visual FC and assessed whether these changes were linked to clinical characteristics. We used voxel-based morphometry to determine whether functional differences were dependent on structural differences. Results The visual network exhibited significant differences in regions (bilateral cunei, right lingual gyrus and left calcarine sulcus) by inter-group comparison. The patients with MwoA showed significantly increased FC between the left thalami and bilateral cunei and between the right thalamus and the contralateral calcarine sulcus and right cuneus. Furthermore, the neural activation of the left calcarine sulcus was positively correlated with visual analogue scale scores (r = 0.319, p = 0.043), and enhanced FC between the left thalamus and right cuneus in migraine patients was negatively correlated with Generalized Anxiety Disorder scores (r = − 0.617, p = 0.005). Conclusion Our data suggest that migraine distress is exacerbated by aberrant feedback projections to the visual network, playing a crucial role in migraine physiological mechanisms. The current study provides further insights into the complex scenario of migraine mechanisms.

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Altered thalamic connectivity during spontaneous attacks of migraine without aura: A resting-state fMRI study

Cephalalgia ◽

10.1177/0333102417729113 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (7) ◽

pp. 1237-1244 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Faisal Mohammad Amin ◽

Anders Hougaard ◽

Stefano Magon ◽

Till Sprenger ◽

Frauke Wolfram ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Migraine Without Aura ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Insular Cortex ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Brain Regions ◽

The Right

Background Functional connectivity of brain networks may be altered in migraine without aura patients. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated changed activity in the thalamus, pons and cerebellum in migraineurs. Here, we investigated the thalamic, pontine and cerebellar network connectivity during spontaneous migraine attacks. Methods Seventeen patients with episodic migraine without aura underwent resting-state fMRI scan during and outside of a spontaneous migraine attack. Primary endpoint was a difference in functional connectivity between the attack and the headache-free days. Functional connectivity was assessed in four different networks using seed-based analysis. The chosen seeds were in the thalamus (MNI coordinates x,y,z: right, 22,–24,0 and left, –22,–28,6), pons (right, 8,–24,–32 and left, –8,–24,–32), cerebellum crus I (right, 46,–58,–30 and left, –46,–58,–30) and cerebellum lobule VI (right, 34,–42,–36 and left, –32,–42,–36). Results We found increased functional connectivity between the right thalamus and several contralateral brain regions (superior parietal lobule, insular cortex, primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area and orbitofrontal cortex). There was decreased functional connectivity between the right thalamus and three ipsilateral brain areas (primary somatosensory cortex and premotor cortex). We found no change in functional connectivity in the pontine or the cerebellar networks. Conclusions The study indicates that network connectivity between thalamus and pain modulating as well as pain encoding cortical areas are affected during spontaneous migraine attacks.

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Local GABA concentration is related to network-level resting functional connectivity

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.01465 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 86

Author(s):

Charlotte J Stagg ◽

Velicia Bachtiar ◽

Ugwechi Amadi ◽

Christel A Gudberg ◽

Andrei S Ilie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Resting State Networks ◽

Inhibitory Neurotransmitter ◽

Motor Network

Anatomically plausible networks of functionally inter-connected regions have been reliably demonstrated at rest, although the neurochemical basis of these ‘resting state networks’ is not well understood. In this study, we combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and resting state fMRI and demonstrated an inverse relationship between levels of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA within the primary motor cortex (M1) and the strength of functional connectivity across the resting motor network. This relationship was both neurochemically and anatomically specific. We then went on to show that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), an intervention previously shown to decrease GABA levels within M1, increased resting motor network connectivity. We therefore suggest that network-level functional connectivity within the motor system is related to the degree of inhibition in M1, a major node within the motor network, a finding in line with converging evidence from both simulation and empirical studies.

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The effect of global signal regression on DCM estimates of noise and effective connectivity from resting state fMRI

10.1101/634063 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Hannes Almgren ◽

Frederik Van de Steen ◽

Adeel Razi ◽

Karl Friston ◽

Daniele Marinazzo

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Effective Connectivity ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Measurement Noise ◽

Resting State Networks ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Global Signal ◽

Leibler Divergence

AbstractThe influence of the global BOLD signal on resting state functional connectivity in fMRI data remains a topic of debate, with little consensus. In this study, we assessed the effects of global signal regression (GSR) on effective connectivity within and between resting-state networks – as estimated with dynamic causal modelling (DCM) for resting state fMRI (rsfMRI). DCM incorporates a forward (generative) model that quantifies the contribution of different types of noise (including global measurement noise), effective connectivity, and (neuro)vascular processes to functional connectivity measurements. DCM analyses were applied to two different designs; namely, longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. In the modelling of longitudinal designs, we included four extensive longitudinal resting state fMRI datasets with a total number of 20 subjects. In the analysis of cross-sectional designs, we used rsfMRI data from 361 subjects from the Human Connectome Project. We hypothesized that (1) GSR would have no discernible impact on effective connectivity estimated with DCM, and (2) GSR would be reflected in the parameters representing global measurement noise. Additionally, we performed comparative analyses of the informative value of data with and without GSR. Our results showed negligible to small effects of GSR on connectivity within small (separately estimated) RSNs. For between-network connectivity, we found two important effects: the effect of GSR on between-network connectivity (averaged over all connections) was negligible to small, while the effect of GSR on individual connections was non-negligible. Contrary to our expectations, we found either no effect (in the longitudinal designs) or a non-specific (cross-sectional design) effect of GSR on parameters representing (global) measurement noise. Data without GSR were found to be more informative than data with GSR; however, in small resting state networks the precision of posterior estimates was greater using data after GSR. In conclusion, GSR is a minor concern in DCM studies; however, individual between-network connections (as opposed to average between-network connectivity) and noise parameters should be interpreted quantitatively with some caution. The Kullback-Leibler divergence of the posterior from the prior, together with the precision of posterior estimates, might offer a useful measure to assess the appropriateness of GSR, when nuancing data features in resting state fMRI.

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Altered functional connectivity of the red nucleus and substantia nigra in migraine without aura

The Journal of Headache and Pain ◽

10.1186/s10194-019-1058-0 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Xiaobin Huang ◽

Di Zhang ◽

Yuchen Chen ◽

Peng Wang ◽

Cunnan Mao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Substantia Nigra ◽

Resting State ◽

Migraine Without Aura ◽

Parietal Lobe ◽

Red Nucleus ◽

Correlation Method ◽

Postcentral Gyrus ◽

And Performance ◽

The Right

Abstract Background Functional connectivity (FC) has been used to investigate the pathophysiology of migraine. Accumulating evidence is pointing toward malfunctioning of brainstem structures, i.e., the red nucleus (RN) and substantia nigra (SN), as an important factor in migraine without aura (MwoA). We aimed to identify atypical FC between the RN and SN and other brain areas in patients with MwoA and to explore the association between RN and SN connectivity changes and performance on neuropsychological tests in these patients. Methods Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were obtained from 30 patients with MwoA and 22 age-, sex-, and years of education-matched healthy controls (HC). The FC of the brainstem structures was analyzed using a standard seed-based whole-brain correlation method. The results of the brainstem structure FC were assessed for correlations with other clinical features. Results Patients with MwoA exhibited reduced left RN-based FC with the left middle frontal gyrus, reduced right RN-based FC with the ipsilateral superior parietal lobe, and increased FC with the ipsilateral cerebellum. Additionally, patients with MwoA demonstrated significantly decreased right SN-based FC with the right postcentral gyrus, left parietal lobule, and left superior frontal gyrus. Hypo-connectivity between the right SN and right postcentral gyrus was negatively correlated with disease duration (r = − 0.506, P = 0.004). Additionally, increased connectivity of the right RN to the ipsilateral cerebellar lobes was positively correlated with the Headache Impact Test-6 scores (r = 0.437, P = 0.016). Conclusions The present study suggested that patients with MwoA have disruption in their RN and SN resting-state networks, which are associated with specific clinical characteristics. The changes focus on the regions associated with cognitive evaluation, multisensory integration, and modulation of perception and pain, which may be associated with migraine production, feedback, and development. Taken together, these results may improve our understanding of the neuropathological mechanism of migraine.

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Resting-state neural network disturbances that underpin the emergence of emotional symptoms in adolescent girls: resting-state fMRI study

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.2019.10 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 215 (3) ◽

pp. 545-551 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Gin S. Malhi ◽

Pritha Das ◽

Tim Outhred ◽

Richard A. Bryant ◽

Vince Calhoun

Keyword(s):

Emotional Disorders ◽

Adolescent Girls ◽

Resting State ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Imaging Data ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

Fmri Study ◽

The Right

BackgroundSubsyndromal emotional symptoms in adolescence may represent precursors for full-blown emotional disorders in early adulthood. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that drive this development is essential for prevention.AimsSelf-referential processing and emotion regulation are remodelled substantively during adolescence, therefore this study examined integration of key neural networks involved in these processes.MethodAt baseline, clinical and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected for 88 adolescent girls (mean age 15 years), and 71 of these girls underwent repeat clinical assessment after 2 years. These 71 girls were then partitioned into two groups depending on the presence (ES+) or absence (ES−) of emotional symptoms, and differences in dynamic functional network connectivity were determined and correlated with clinical variables.ResultsThe two groups displayed a differential pattern of functional connectivity involving the left lateral prefrontal network (LPFN). Specifically, in the ES+ group this network displayed positive coupling with the right LPFN but negative coupling with the default mode network, and the inverse of this pattern was found in the ES− group. Furthermore, the coupling strengths between left and right LPFN at the irst time point predicted follow-up depression and state anxiety scores.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that in adolescent girls, emotional symptoms may emerge as a result of impaired integration between networks involved in self-referential information processing and approach-avoidance behaviours. These impairments can compromise the pursuit of important goals and have an impact on emotion processing and finally may lead to the development of emotional disorders, such as anxiety and depression in adulthood.Declaration of interestNone.

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Altered Intra- and Interregional Synchronization in Resting-State Cerebral Networks Associated with Chronic Tinnitus

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2015/475382 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Yu-Chen Chen ◽

Jian Zhang ◽

Xiao-Wei Li ◽

Wenqing Xia ◽

Xu Feng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Chronic Tinnitus ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Tinnitus Distress ◽

The Right

Objective. Subjective tinnitus is hypothesized to arise from aberrant neural activity; however, its neural bases are poorly understood. To identify aberrant neural networks involved in chronic tinnitus, we compared the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) patterns of tinnitus patients and healthy controls.Materials and Methods. Resting-state fMRI measurements were obtained from a group of chronic tinnitus patients (n=29) with normal hearing and well-matched healthy controls (n=30). Regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis and functional connectivity analysis were used to identify abnormal brain activity; these abnormalities were compared to tinnitus distress.Results. Relative to healthy controls, tinnitus patients had significant greater ReHo values in several brain regions including the bilateral anterior insula (AI), left inferior frontal gyrus, and right supramarginal gyrus. Furthermore, the left AI showed enhanced functional connectivity with the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), while the right AI had enhanced functional connectivity with the right MFG; these measures were positively correlated with Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaires (r=0.459,P=0.012andr=0.479,P=0.009, resp.).Conclusions. Chronic tinnitus patients showed abnormal intra- and interregional synchronization in several resting-state cerebral networks; these abnormalities were correlated with clinical tinnitus distress. These results suggest that tinnitus distress is exacerbated by attention networks that focus on internally generated phantom sounds.

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Improvising at Rest: Differentiating Jazz and Classical Music Training with Resting State Functional Connectivity

10.1101/732073 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander Belden ◽

Tima Zeng ◽

Emily Przysinda ◽

Sheeba Arnold Anteraper ◽

Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Divergent Thinking ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Salience Network ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Cortical Networks ◽

Music Training ◽

Classical Musicians ◽

Visual Network

AbstractJazz improvisation offers a model for creative cognition, as it involves the real-time creation of a novel, information-rich product. Previous research has shown that when musicians improvise, they recruit regions in the Default Mode Network (DMN) and Executive Control Network (ECN). Here, we ask whether these findings from task-fMRI studies might extend to intrinsic differences in resting state functional connectivity. We compared Improvising musicians, Classical musicians, and Minimally Musically Trained (MMT) controls in seed-based functional connectivity and network analyses in resting state functional MRI. We also examined the functional correlates of behavioral performance in musical improvisation and divergent thinking. Seed-based analysis consistently showed higher connectivity in ventral DMN (vDMN) and bilateral ECN in both groups of musically trained individuals as compared to MMT controls, with additional group differences in primary visual network, precuneus network, and posterior salience network. In particular, primary visual network connectivity to DMN and ECN was highest in Improvisational musicians, whereas within-network connectivity of vDMN and precuneus network was higher in both Improvisational and Classical musicians than in MMT controls; in contrast, connectivity between posterior salience network and superior parietal lobule was highest in Classical musicians. Furthermore, graph-theoretical analysis indicated heightened betweenness centrality, clustering, and local efficiency in Classical musicians. Taken together, results suggest that heightened functional connectivity among musicians can be explained by higher within-network connectivity (more tight-knit cortical networks) in Classical musicians, as opposed to more disperse, globally-connected cortical networks in Improvisational musicians.HighlightsMusic training is associated with higher resting state connectivityHigher connectivity in Improvisational musicians from visual network to ECN and DMNClassical musicians show higher vDMN and Precuneus within-network connectivityImprovisation and divergent thinking performance correlate with similar connectivity patterns

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Single-Case Neuropsychological Assessment of a Patient with a Posterior Parietal Lesion Using Behavioral Testing and Resting-State fMRI

OBM Neurobiology ◽

10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2103105 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 05 (03) ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

Elisa Martín-Arévalo ◽

◽

Carole Guedj ◽

François Cotton ◽

Gilles Rode ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Left Visual Field ◽

Single Case ◽

Visual Fields ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Occipital Area ◽

Posterior Parietal ◽

The Right

This study integrated functional connectivity measures using resting-state fMRI and behavioral data from a single-case observation of patient (PER) one year after right-hemispheric hemorrhage in the intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule (IPS/SPL). PER showed no sign of clinical neglect. Her behavioral performance in the visuo-manual pointing task and in the letter discrimination task under conditions of endogenous and exogenous attentional cueing was compared between the left (affected) and right (unaffected/control) peripheral visual fields. The resting-state fMRI demonstrated an imbalance between the right and left hemispheric frontoparietal functional connectivity within the dorsal attentional and motor networks. Although the frontal and occipital cortices were not structurally damaged, specific fronto-occipital functional connectivity was imbalanced, which was strongly associated with the behavioral changes. First, the activity in the right frontal eye field showed weaker correlations with the activity in the right inferior occipital area compared to the correlation with the activity in the left inferior occipital area. This imbalanced fronto-occipital functional connectivity was accompanied by a specific impairment in endogenous covert attention in the left visual field. Second, the activity within M1 in both hemispheres showed weaker correlations with the activity of the right cuneus compared to the correlation with the activity in the left cuneus. The imbalanced fronto-occipital functional connectivity was associated with the impairment of the reaching movement of the left and right hands towards the left visual field (optic ataxia). Altogether, our results showed that a lesion to the posterior parietal cortex affects the relationship between distal regions underlying the sensorimotor and attentional abilities

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Distributed causality in resting-state network connectivity in the acute and remitting phases of RRMS

10.21203/rs.3.rs-18415/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lin Wu ◽

Muhua Huang ◽

Fuqing Zhou ◽

Xianjun Zeng ◽

Honghan Gong

Keyword(s):

Acute Phase ◽

Resting State ◽

Disease Duration ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Causality Test ◽

Impact Scale ◽

Scale Scores ◽

Time Courses ◽

Serial Addition ◽

The Right

Abstract Background Although previous studies have shown that intranetwork abnormalities in brain functional networks are correlated with clinical/cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS), there is little information regarding the pattern of causal interactions among cognition-related resting-state networks (RSNs) in different disease stages of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients. We hypothesized that abnormalities of causal interactions among RSNs occurred in RRMS patients in the acute and remitting phases. Patients and methods: Seventeen patients in the acute phases of RRMS, 24 patients in the remitting phases of RRMS, and 23 appropriately matched healthy controls participated in this study. First, we first used group independent component analysis to extract the time courses of the spatially independent components from all the subjects. Then, the Granger causality test was used to investigate the causal relationships among RSNs in the spectral domain and to identify correlations with clinical indexes. Results Compared with the patients in the acute phase of RRMS, patients in the remitting phase of RRMS showed a significantly lower expanded disability status scale, modified fatigue impact scale scores, and significantly higher paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) scores. Compared with healthy subjects, during the acute phase, RRMS patients had significantly increased driving connectivity from the right executive control network (rECN) to the anterior salience network (aSN), and the causal coefficient was negatively correlated with the PASAT score. During the remitting phase, RRMS patients had significantly increased driving connectivity from the rECN to the aSN and from the rECN to the visuospatial network. Conclusion Together with the disease duration (mean disease duration < 5 years) and relatively better clinical scores than those in the acute phase, abnormal connections, such as the information flow from the rECN to the aSN and the rECN to the visuospatial network, might provide adaptive compensation in the remitting phase of RRMS.

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