Altered hypothalamic functional connectivity with autonomic circuits and the locus coeruleus in migraine

The hypothalamus has been implicated in migraine based on the manifestation of autonomic symptoms with the disease, as well as neuroimaging evidence of hypothalamic activation during attacks. Our objective was to determine functional connectivity (FC) changes between the hypothalamus and the rest of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-04, Vol.9 (4), p.e95508-e95508
Main Authors: Moulton, Eric A, Becerra, Lino, Johnson, Adriana, Burstein, Rami, Borsook, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis
Autonomic nervous system
Biology and Life Sciences
Brain
Brain - physiology
Brain mapping
Cerebellum
Cerebellum - physiology
Connectivity
Female
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional morphology
Gender
Headache
Headaches
Health aspects
Humans
Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus - physiology
Loci
Locus coeruleus
Locus Coeruleus - physiology
Magnetic resonance
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Males
Medical imaging
Medical schools
Medicine and Health Sciences
Migraine
Migraine Disorders - physiopathology
Neural networks
Neuroimaging
Neurology
Neurophysiology
Neurosciences
Pain
Parahippocampal gyrus
Parahippocampal Gyrus - physiopathology
Parasympathetic nervous system
Patients
Seeds
Sleep
Systematic review
Young Adult
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Summary:The hypothalamus has been implicated in migraine based on the manifestation of autonomic symptoms with the disease, as well as neuroimaging evidence of hypothalamic activation during attacks. Our objective was to determine functional connectivity (FC) changes between the hypothalamus and the rest of the brain in migraine patients vs. control subjects. This study uses fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to acquire resting state scans in 12 interictal migraine patients and 12 healthy matched controls. Hypothalamic connectivity seeds were anatomically defined based on high-resolution structural scans, and FC was assessed in the resting state scans. Migraine patients had increased hypothalamic FC with a number of brain regions involved in regulation of autonomic functions, including the locus coeruleus, caudate, parahippocampal gyrus, cerebellum, and the temporal pole. Stronger functional connections between the hypothalamus and brain areas that regulate sympathetic and parasympathetic functions may explain some of the hypothalamic-mediated autonomic symptoms that accompany or precede migraine attacks.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0095508