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Updated: Oct 25, 2026
3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
Mapping structural and functional brain networks associated with migraine
Leyi Zhang1, Xuhan Cui1, Yangpan Ou1
1Department of Psychiatry, National Center for Mental Disorders, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410011, China.
Background:
Although numerous neuroimaging studies have reported structural and functional abnormalities in migraine, results have remained heterogeneous. Emerging evidence suggests that neuropsychiatric symptoms may arise from dysfunction within distributed brain networks rather than isolated brain regions; however, migraine-related network abnormalities remain insufficiently explored.
Methods:
We integrated findings from 51 neuroimaging publications and extracted reported locations showing structural and functional abnormalities associated with migraine. Using a functional connectivity network mapping (FCNM) approach, these regions were mapped onto a normative resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset (n = 872) to identify migraine-related structural and functional brain networks. Cross-sample spatial correlations were performed with genetic profiles from the Allen Human Brain Atlas and 19 neurotransmitter distribution maps.
Results:
The structural network primarily involved the insula, thalamus, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and medial orbitofrontal cortex, with predominant overlap in the subcortical network (71.4%). The functional network mainly involved the occipital cortex, precentral and postcentral gyri, fusiform gyrus, lingual gyrus, cuneus, superior parietal gyrus, insula, superior temporal gyrus, and supplementary motor area, predominantly overlapping with the visual (45.3%) and somatomotor (30.0%) networks. These findings were robust across methodological parameters and test-retest analyses. Cross-sample correlations linked these networks to genes associated with synaptic function and neuroinflammation, and neurotransmitter systems including serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine.
Conclusions:
Our findings help reconcile previous heterogeneous neuroimaging results and suggest that migraine-related brain networks extend beyond classical pain-processing regions to broader networks involved in sensory-affective integration and visual perception.
Clinical Trial Number:
Not applicable.
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