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Altered amygdala effective connectivity in migraine without aura: evidence from resting-state fMRI with Granger
Xiaobin Huang1, Di Zhang1, Peng Wang1
1Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No.68, Changle Road Nanjing, 210006, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.
Background:
Granger causality analysis (GCA) has been used to investigate the pathophysiology of migraine. Amygdala plays a key role in pain modulation of migraine attack. However, the detailed neuromechanism remained to be elucidated. We applied GCA to explore the amygdala-based directional effective connectivity in migraine without aura (MwoA) and to determine the relation with clinical characteristics.
Methods:
Forty-five MwoA patients and forty age-, sex-, and years of education-matched healthy controls(HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Bilateral amygdala were used as seed regions in GCA to investigate directional effective connectivity and relation with migraine duration or attack frequency.
Results:
MwoA patients showed significantly decreased effective connectivity from right amygdala to right superior temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus and right precentral gyrus compared with HCs. Furthermore, MwoA patients demonstrated significantly decreased effective connectivity from the left amygdala to the ipsilateral superior temporal gyrus. Also, MwoA patients showed enhanced effective connectivity from left inferior frontal gyrus to left amygdala. Effective connectivity outflow from right amygdala to right precentral gyrus was negatively correlated to disease duration.
Conclusions:
Altered directional effective connectivity of amygdala demonstrated that neurolimbic pain networks contribute to multisensory integration abnormalities and deficits in pain modulation of MwoA patients.
Insights
Migraine without aura (MwoA) patients exhibit altered amygdala connectivity, impacting pain modulation and sensory integration. These brain network changes correlate with migraine duration.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Granger causality analysis (GCA) investigates migraine pathophysiology.
- The amygdala is crucial for pain modulation during migraine attacks.
- Detailed neuromechanisms of migraine without aura (MwoA) require further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply GCA for exploring amygdala-based directional effective connectivity in MwoA.
- To determine the relationship between amygdala connectivity and clinical characteristics of MwoA.
Main Methods:
- Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed on 45 MwoA patients and 40 healthy controls (HCs).
- Bilateral amygdala were utilized as seed regions for GCA.
- Directional effective connectivity was analyzed in relation to migraine duration and attack frequency.
Main Results:
- MwoA patients showed decreased effective connectivity from the right amygdala to the right and left superior temporal gyrus and right precentral gyrus compared to HCs.
- A significant decrease in effective connectivity from the left amygdala to the ipsilateral superior temporal gyrus was observed in MwoA patients.
- Enhanced effective connectivity from the left inferior frontal gyrus to the left amygdala was found in MwoA patients.
- Effective connectivity outflow from the right amygdala to the right precentral gyrus negatively correlated with disease duration.
Conclusions:
- Altered directional effective connectivity of the amygdala in MwoA suggests contributions from neurolimbic pain networks.
- These network alterations are linked to multisensory integration abnormalities in MwoA.
- Deficits in pain modulation associated with MwoA are associated with these observed connectivity changes.
