Altered Regional Brain Activity And Functional Connectivity In Interictal Migraineurs: A Resting-state FMRI Study

Background:Migraine is a recurring disorder and the cumulative effect of repeated pain attacks over long periods of time can lead to changes in brain function.At present,resting-state f MRI(rs-f MRI)studies have focused on the attack and found functional changes in characteristic brain regions.Whereas,a few studies have focused on the interictal phase of migraine,and the results are still controversial.Therefore,this study aimed to investigate the alteration in brain functional activity between migraine attacks and further explore the possible brain mechanisms and valuable biomarkers of migraine attacks.Methods:The rs-f MRI data of 26 migraineurs and 23 healthy controls matched for age and sex were collected at the present study,and then data-driven methods such as fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation(fALFF)and regional consistency(Re Ho)were used to analyze local spontaneous brain activity feature.Next,functional connectivity(FC)analysis was performed using the obtained abnormal brain regions as seed points,and the time series of the differential brain regions were extracted for correlation analysis with clinical characteristics.Results:Relative to the HCs,the values of fALFF in the left MFG and Re Ho in the right middle frontal gyrus(MFG)were increased in migraineurs,whereas the Re Ho value of the right lingual gyrus and left central posterior gyrus(Po CG)were decreased.FC analysis revealed that the enhanced FC of the right MFG and the bilateral thalamus,left precuneus cortex(PCUN)were found.In addition,the higher FC in migraineurs than HCs between the left Po CG and bilateral thalamus was indicated in this study.Moreover,partial correlation analysis showed that the aberrant fALFF value of the left MFG was negatively correlated with pain severity in migraineurs.Conclusion:Abnormal functional connectivity between the bilateral thalamus and the right middle frontal gyrus,the left retrocentral gyrus may occur between attacks in migraineurs,which may be a crucial area of sensory integration and pain regulation dysfunction.The fALFF value of the left middle frontal gyrus may be a valuable marker for assessing pain severity.Therefore,the findings of this study may provide a useful reference for subsequent studies on the pathophysiology of migraine.