BackgroundPrevious studies have defined low-frequency, spatially consistent intrinsic connectivity networks (ICN) in resting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data which reflect functional interactions among distinct brain areas. We sought to explore whether and how repeated migraine attacks influence intrinsic brain connectivity, as well as how activity in these networks correlates with clinical indicators of migraine.Methods/Principal FindingsResting-state fMRI data in twenty-three patients with migraines without aura (MwoA) and 23 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were analyzed using independent component analysis (ICA), in combination with a “dual-regression” technique to identify the group differences of three important pain-related networks [default mode network (DMN), bilateral central executive network (CEN), salience network (SN)] between the MwoA patients and HC. Compared with the HC, MwoA patients showed aberrant intrinsic connectivity within the bilateral CEN and SN, and greater connectivity between both the DMN and right CEN (rCEN) and the insula cortex - a critical region involving in pain processing. Furthermore, greater connectivity between both the DMN and rCEN and the insula correlated with duration of migraine.ConclusionsOur findings may provide new insights into the characterization of migraine as a condition affecting brain activity in intrinsic connectivity networks. Moreover, the abnormalities may be the consequence of a persistent central neural system dysfunction, reflecting cumulative brain insults due to frequent ongoing migraine attacks.

Online gaming addiction, as the most popular subtype of Internet addiction, had gained more and more attention from the whole world. However, the structural differences in cortical thickness of the brain between adolescents with online gaming addiction and healthy controls are not well unknown; neither was its association with the impaired cognitive control ability. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from late adolescence with online gaming addiction (n = 18) and age-, education- and gender-matched controls (n = 18) were acquired. The cortical thickness measurement method was employed to investigate alterations of cortical thickness in individuals with online gaming addiction. The color-word Stroop task was employed to investigate the functional implications of the cortical thickness abnormalities. Imaging data revealed increased cortical thickness in the left precentral cortex, precuneus, middle frontal cortex, inferior temporal and middle temporal cortices in late adolescence with online gaming addiction; meanwhile, the cortical thicknesses of the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insula, lingual gyrus, the right postcentral gyrus, entorhinal cortex and inferior parietal cortex were decreased. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the cortical thicknesses of the left precentral cortex, precuneus and lingual gyrus correlated with duration of online gaming addiction and the cortical thickness of the OFC correlated with the impaired task performance during the color-word Stroop task in adolescents with online gaming addiction. The findings in the current study suggested that the cortical thickness abnormalities of these regions may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of online gaming addiction.

Although previous resting-state studies have reported abnormal functional cerebral changes in patients with migraine without aura (MwoA), few have focused on alterations in both regional spontaneous neuronal activity and corresponding brain circuits in MwoA patients during rest. Eighteen MwoA patients and 18 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited in the current study. Baseline cerebral alterations were investigated using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and region of interest (ROI)-based functional connectivity (FC) analyses. Compared with HC, MwoA patients showed decreased ALFF values in the left rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) as well as increased ALFF values in the right thalamus. FC analysis also revealed abnormal FCs associated with these ROIs. In addition, ALFF values of the left rACC correlated with duration of disease in MwoA. Our findings could lead to a better understanding of intrinsic functional architecture of baseline brain activity in MwoA, providing both regional and brain circuit spontaneous neuronal activity properties.

No abstract

Previous studies have proven that migraine and depression are bidirectionally linked. However, few studies have investigated white matter (WM) integrity affected by depressive symptoms in patients suffering from migraine without aura (MWoA). Forty patients with MWoA were divided into two groups according to their self-rating depression scale (SDS) score in the present study, including 20 in the SDS (+) (SDS > 49) group and 20 in the SDS (-) (SDS ≤ 49) group. Forty healthy participants were also recruited as the control group. Tract-based spatial statistics analyses with multiple diffusion tensor imaging-derived indices [fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), axial diffusivity (AD)] were employed collectively to investigate WM integrity between all patients with MWoA and all healthy controls, between each subgroup (SDS (-) group and SDS (+) group) and healthy controls, and between the SDS (-) and SDS (+) groups. Compared with healthy controls, decreased AD was shown in several WM tracts of the whole MWoA group, SDS (-) group and SDS (+) group. In addition, compared with the SDS (-) group, the SDS (+) group showed decreased FA and increased MD and RD, with conserved AD, including the genu, body and splenium of the corpus callosum, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculi, the right anterior corona radiata and some other WM tracts, similar to previous findings in depression disorder. Furthermore, mean FA and RD in some of the above-mentioned WM tracts in the SDS (+) group were correlated significantly with SDS scores, including the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum, the right anterior corona radiata and the superior longitudinal fasciculi. Our results suggest that WM integrity may be affected by both depression symptoms (more sensitive as RD) and migraine (more sensitive as AD). The findings may serve as a sensitive biomarker of depression severity in MWoA.