Brain Network Integration in Patients with Migraine: A Magnetoencephalography Study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Brain Network Analysis

Background:

• Migraine is a prevalent neurological disorder with significant societal and healthcare burdens.
• Pathophysiology of migraine extends beyond acute attacks into the interictal (between attacks) phase.
• Previous research suggests interictal brain alterations in migraineurs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in functional brain network topology during the interictal state in migraine patients compared to healthy controls.
• To determine if the severity of network disturbances correlates with the duration of migraine suffering.
• To explore frequency-specific alterations in brain network organization.

Main Methods:

• Used source-level magnetoencephalography (MEG) data from 78 cortical regions.
• Calculated functional connectivity using the phase lag index across five frequency bands (delta-beta).
• Characterized network topology using minimum spanning tree analysis, comparing migraineurs (n=24) and healthy controls (n=24).

Main Results:

• Migraine patients displayed distinct functional network topology compared to healthy controls, irrespective of disease duration.
• Network topology differences were frequency-specific.
• Higher nodal betweenness centrality in higher frequencies was observed in patients with longer migraine duration, with an opposite trend in lower frequencies.

Conclusions:

• Migraine patients exhibit altered resting-state functional brain network topology compared to healthy individuals.
• Specific brain regions show modified topological roles in a frequency-dependent manner.
• Long-term migraine appears associated with specific network alterations, suggesting chronic disease effects.