Shared alterations in hippocampal structural covariance in subjective cognitive decline and migraine

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and migraine are often comorbid. Hippocampal structural abnormalities have been observed in individuals with both SCD and migraine. Given the known structural and functional heterogeneity along the long axis (anterior to posterior) of the hippocampus, we aimed to identify altered patterns of structural covariance within hippocampal subdivisions associated with SCD and migraine comorbidities.

A seed-based structural covariance network analysis was applied to examine large-scale anatomical network changes of the anterior and posterior hippocampus in individuals with SCD, migraine and healthy controls. Conjunction analyses were used to identify shared network-level alterations in the hippocampal subdivisions in individuals with both SCD and migraine.

Altered structural covariance integrity of the anterior and posterior hippocampus was observed in the temporal, frontal, occipital, cingulate, precentral, and postcentral areas in individuals with SCD and migraine compared with healthy controls. Conjunction analysis revealed that, in both SCD and migraine, altered structural covariance integrity was shared between the anterior hippocampus and inferior temporal gyri and between the posterior hippocampus and precentral gyrus. Additionally, the structural covariance integrity of the posterior hippocampus-cerebellum axis was associated with the duration of SCD.

This study highlighted the specific role of hippocampal subdivisions and specific structural covariance alterations within these subdivisions in the pathophysiology of SCD and migraine. These network-level changes in structural covariance may serve as potential imaging signatures for individuals who have both SCD and migraine.