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Whole brain surface-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics in migraine with aura patients: difference
Chiara Abagnale1, Antonio Di Renzo2, Gabriele Sebastianelli1
1Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome Polo Pontino ICOT, Latina, Italy.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|May 5, 2023
Summary
Migraine with aura involves brain changes. Patients with visual or complex auras show cortical thinning in various brain regions, with distinct differences in high-level processing areas.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neurology
- Brain Anatomy
Background:
- Migrainous aura presents diverse clinical phenotypes.
- Neurophysiological underpinnings of these phenotypes remain largely unknown.
- Understanding these differences is crucial for targeted migraine treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neurophysiological differences between migraine with aura (MA) subtypes.
- To compare white matter integrity and gray matter cortical thickness.
- To differentiate between pure visual aura (MA) and complex neurological aura (MA+) patients and healthy controls (HC).
Main Methods:
- Acquired 3T MRI data from 20 MA patients, 15 MA+ patients, and 19 HCs between attacks.
- Analyzed white matter using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
- Assessed cortical thickness via surface-based morphometry of structural MRI data.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in white matter diffusivity maps were found between groups.
- Both MA and MA+ patients exhibited significant cortical thinning in temporal, frontal, insular, postcentral, and visual areas compared to HCs.
- Specific areas showed contrasting thickness changes: MA group had thicker lingual gyrus and Rolandic operculum, while MA+ group had thinner areas.
Conclusions:
- Migraine with aura is associated with widespread cortical thinning.
- Clinical heterogeneity of aura phenotypes correlates with distinct patterns of cortical thickness changes.
- These findings highlight the neurophysiological basis for different aura types.
