Concurrent functional and structural cortical alterations in migraine

Various animal and human studies have contributed to the idea of cortical structural-functional alterations in migraine. Defining concurrent cortical alterations may provide specific insights into the unfolding adaptive or maladaptive changes taking place in cortex in migraine.

From a group of 60 episodic migraineurs, 20 were recruited to the study. Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, structural and functional cortical measures were compared in migraineurs who experienced increased frequency of attacks (HF; 8-14 days/month; n = 10), to those who experienced less frequent migraine attacks (LF; < 2 days/month; n = 10), and to healthy controls (HC; n = 20).

Parallel structural and functional differences were found as follows: (i) HF patients showed higher thickness in the area representing the face in the post-central gyrus, which correlated with the observed stronger functional activation, suggesting adaptation to repeated sensory drive; (ii) smaller cortical volume was observed in the cingulate cortex that correlated with lower activation in the HF group; and (iii) similarly significant structural and functional differences (HF > LF) were observed in the insula that may reflect potential alteration in affective processing.

These results suggest differential response patterns in the sensory vs. affective processing regions in the brain that may be an adaptive response to repeated migraine attacks.