The brain structure and function abnormalities of migraineurs: A systematic review and neuroimaging meta-analysis

Zhu-Hong Chen; Yu-Ling Cui; Jing-Ting Sun; Yu-Ting Li; Chi Zhang; Yang-Ming Zhang; Ze-Yang Li; Yu-Xuan Shang; Min-Hua Ni; Bo Hu; Lin-Feng Yan; Wen Wang

doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.1022793

The brain structure and function abnormalities of migraineurs: A systematic review and neuroimaging meta-analysis

Front Neurol. 2022 Nov 7:13:1022793. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.1022793. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Zhu-Hong Chen^{1

2}, Yu-Ling Cui^{1

3}, Jing-Ting Sun^{1

4}, Yu-Ting Li¹, Chi Zhang¹, Yang-Ming Zhang¹, Ze-Yang Li¹, Yu-Xuan Shang¹, Min-Hua Ni¹, Bo Hu¹, Lin-Feng Yan¹, Wen Wang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University (Air Force Medical University), Xi'an, China.
² Department of Radiology, Gansu Hospital of Chinese Armed Police Force, Lanzhou, China.
³ Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an Jiatong University, Xi'an, China.
⁴ Department of Medical Technology, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang City, China.

Abstract

Objectives: To quantitatively summarize the specific changes in brain structure and function in migraine patients.

Methods: A literature screening of migraine was conducted from inception to Sept 1, 2022, in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Medline databases using the keyword combination of "migraine and MRI." Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) was performed to assess the differentiation of functional connectivity (FC), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and gray matter volume (GMV) of migraine patients.

Results: Eleven voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies and 25 resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) studies (16 FC and 9 ReHo studies) were included in this study. ALE analysis revealed the ReHo increase in the brainstem and left thalamus, with no decreased area. Neither increased nor decreased regions were detected in FC and GMV of migraine patients.

Conclusions: The left thalamus and brainstem were the significantly activated regions of migraine. It is a meaningful insights into the pathophysiology of migraine. The consistent alterated brain areas of morphometrical and functional in migraine patients were far from reached based on current studies.

Keywords: function; magnetic resonance imaging; meta-analysis; migraine; structure; systematic review.

Publication types

Review