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

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.

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.

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.

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.