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Altered local and distant functional connectivity density in chronic migraine: a resting-state functional MRI study

  • Functional Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Purpose

Previous studies have indicated disrupted functional connectivity in multiple brain regions and resting-state networks in episodic migraine, but it is unclear how brain network property is disrupted in chronic migraine.

Methods

Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-wise functional connectivity density analysis, we examined the large-scale functional connectivity pattern over the whole brain in 17 patients with chronic migraine without medication overuse compared to 35 healthy controls. The associations between functional connectivity density and clinical variables were also explored.

Results

Compared with controls, chronic migraine patients showed decreased local and distant functional connectivity density in the dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortexes and precuneus and increased local and distant functional connectivity density in the hippocampal complex. The patients also presented increased local functional connectivity density in the orbital frontal gyrus and cerebellum and increased distant functional connectivity density in the temporal pole. Moreover, local functional connectivity density in several brain regions, such as the left superior temporal gyrus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, was found to be correlated with headache frequency or pain intensity.

Conclusion

Chronic migraine is associated with functional connectivity alterations in regions involved in multisensory integration, affective and cognitive processing, and pain modulation. Both local and distant functional connectivity density are complementary biomarkers for investigating the neural mechanism of this disorder. Some local functional connectivity density alterations may be useful for assessing the disease burden of chronic migraine.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 81701669, 81701667, and 81701679), the Nature Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant numbers BK20170368 and BK20170367), the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (19JCQNJC09800), and the Scientific Research Program of Jiangsu Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission (H201621).

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Author notes

  1. LD and YY contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow, China

    Lingling Dai, Yang Yu, Yunyan Su, Ximing Wang, Su Hu, Hui Dai, Chunhong Hu & Jun Ke

  2. Institute of Medical Imaging, Soochow University, Soochow, China

    Lingling Dai, Yang Yu, Yunyan Su, Ximing Wang, Su Hu, Hui Dai, Chunhong Hu & Jun Ke

  3. Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow, China

    Hongru Zhao

  4. Department of Radiology, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Xiaodong Zhang

Authors
  1. Lingling Dai
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  2. Yang Yu
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  3. Hongru Zhao
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  4. Xiaodong Zhang
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  5. Yunyan Su
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  6. Ximing Wang
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  7. Su Hu
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  8. Hui Dai
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  9. Chunhong Hu
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  10. Jun Ke
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Contributions

Study design: Jun Ke. Literature research: Hui Dai and Chunhong Hu. Data acquisition: Ximing Wang, Su Hu, and Hongru Zhao. Data processing and statistical analysis: Xiaodong Zhang and Yunyan Su. Data interpretation: Lingling Dai, Yang Yu, and Hongru Zhao. Manuscript preparation: Lingling Dai and Yang Yu. Manuscript editing: Lingling Dai, Yang Yu, Hongru Zhao, Xiaodong Zhang, Yunyan Su, Ximing Wang, Su Hu, Hui Dai, Chunhong Hu, and Jun Ke. Funding acquisition: Jun Ke, Yunyan Su, Xiaodong Zhang, and Ximing Wang. Manuscript final version approval: Lingling Dai, Yang Yu, Hongru Zhao, Xiaodong Zhang, Yunyan Su, Ximing Wang, Su Hu, Hui Dai, Chunhong Hu, and Jun Ke.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Ke.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The study protocol was in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University.

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All participants provided written informed consent.

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Dai, L., Yu, Y., Zhao, H. et al. Altered local and distant functional connectivity density in chronic migraine: a resting-state functional MRI study. Neuroradiology 63, 555–562 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-020-02582-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-020-02582-x

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