Altered locus coeruleus functional connectivity in migraine without aura based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Locus coeruleus-frontal lobe connectivity best distinguished migraine without aura from healthy controls
Altered locus coeruleus functional connectivity in migraine without aura based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Accumulating evidence indicates that the locus coeruleus (locus coeruleus) plays a pivotal role in pain modulation and related network dysfunction in migraine.
This study aimed to examine functional connectivity (functional connectivity) between the locus coeruleus and other brain regions in patients with migraine without aura (MwoA) compared with healthy controls (healthy controls).
A total of 55 patients with MwoA and 50 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
right locus coeruleus to right frontal lobe signal correctly flagged most migraine patients
Compared with healthy controls, patients with MwoA exhibited increased functional connectivity between the left locus coeruleus and the right superior temporal gyrus (superior temporal gyrus)/left cerebellar posterior lobe (cerebellar posterior lobe), as well as between the right locus coeruleus and the left superior temporal gyrus/left inferior occipital gyrus (inferior occipital gyrus) ( p < 0.05).
Decreased functional connectivity was observed between the bilateral locus coeruleus and the right superior frontal gyrus (superior frontal gyrus) ( p < 0.05).
Patients with MwoA exhibited altered locus coeruleus-related resting-state functional connectivity involving brain regions associated with pain processing, sensory integration, and emotional regulation.
By separately characterizing the whole-brain connectivity patterns of the bilateral locus coeruleus, this study extends previous locus coeruleus-related imaging findings in migraine and provides a more refined description of locus coeruleus-centered network dysfunction in MwoA.