Different mean thickness implicates involvement of the cortex in migraine.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neurology
• Brain anatomy

Background:

• Migraine is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches.
• Previous neuroimaging studies indicate altered brain function and structure in migraine patients.
• The specific changes in mean cortical thickness in migraine patients remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in mean cortical thickness between migraine without aura (MWoA) patients and healthy controls.
• To explore correlations between cortical thickness and disease duration in MWoA patients.

Main Methods:

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to examine 48 MWoA patients during the interictal phase and 48 healthy controls.
• High-resolution MRI structural images were processed using FreeSurfer software for automatic segmentation.
• Statistical analysis compared mean cortical thickness between groups and correlated it with disease duration.

Main Results:

• Migraine patients exhibited significantly decreased mean cortical thickness in numerous brain regions across the frontal, temporal, occipital, parietal lobes, and insula compared to controls.
• A positive correlation was found between the mean cortical thickness of the anterior insula and disease duration.
• Negative correlations were observed between the mean cortical thickness of the superior and inferior insula and disease duration.

Conclusions:

• Migraine without aura (MWoA) is associated with widespread reductions in mean cortical thickness, indicating complex involvement of multiple brain regions and networks.
• The observed structural differences may be a consequence rather than a cause of the condition.
• Longitudinal neuroimaging studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to elucidate the causal relationship between brain structure alterations and migraine.