TY - JOUR
T1 - Morphological Abnormalities of Thalamic Subnuclei in Migraine
T2 - A Multicenter MRI Study at 3 Tesla
AU - Magon, Stefano
AU - May, Arne
AU - Stankewitz, Anne
AU - Goadsby, Peter J
AU - Tso, Amy R
AU - Ashina, Messoud
AU - Amin, Faisal Mohammad
AU - Seifert, Christian L
AU - Chakravarty, M Mallar
AU - Müller, Jannis
AU - Sprenger, Till
N1 - Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3513801-07$15.00/0.
PY - 2015/10/7
Y1 - 2015/10/7
N2 - The thalamus contains third-order relay neurons of the trigeminal system, and animal models as well as preliminary imaging studies in small cohorts of migraine patients have suggested a role of the thalamus in headache pathophysiology. However, larger studies using advanced imaging techniques in substantial patient populations are lacking. In the present study, we investigated changes of thalamic volume and shape in a large multicenter cohort of patients with migraine. High-resolution T1-weighted MRI data acquired at 3 tesla in 131 patients with migraine (38 with aura; 30.8 ± 9 years old; 109 women; monthly attack frequency: 3.2 ± 2.5; disease duration: 14 ± 8.4 years) and 115 matched healthy subjects (29 ± 7 years old; 81 women) from four international tertiary headache centers were analyzed. The thalamus and thalamic subnuclei, striatum, and globus pallidus were segmented using a fully automated multiatlas approach. Deformation-based shape analysis was performed to localize surface abnormalities. Differences between patients with migraine and healthy subjects were assessed using an ANCOVA model. After correction for multiple comparisons, performed using the false discovery rate approach (p < 0.05 corrected), significant volume reductions of the following thalamic nuclei were observed in migraineurs: central nuclear complex (F(1,233) = 6.79), anterior nucleus (F(1,237) = 7.38), and lateral dorsal nucleus (F(1,238) = 6.79). Moreover, reduced striatal volume (F(1,238) = 6.9) was observed in patients. This large-scale study indicates structural thalamic abnormalities in patients with migraine. The thalamic nuclei with abnormal volumes are densely connected to the limbic system. The data hence lend support to the view that higher-order integration systems are altered in migraine.
AB - The thalamus contains third-order relay neurons of the trigeminal system, and animal models as well as preliminary imaging studies in small cohorts of migraine patients have suggested a role of the thalamus in headache pathophysiology. However, larger studies using advanced imaging techniques in substantial patient populations are lacking. In the present study, we investigated changes of thalamic volume and shape in a large multicenter cohort of patients with migraine. High-resolution T1-weighted MRI data acquired at 3 tesla in 131 patients with migraine (38 with aura; 30.8 ± 9 years old; 109 women; monthly attack frequency: 3.2 ± 2.5; disease duration: 14 ± 8.4 years) and 115 matched healthy subjects (29 ± 7 years old; 81 women) from four international tertiary headache centers were analyzed. The thalamus and thalamic subnuclei, striatum, and globus pallidus were segmented using a fully automated multiatlas approach. Deformation-based shape analysis was performed to localize surface abnormalities. Differences between patients with migraine and healthy subjects were assessed using an ANCOVA model. After correction for multiple comparisons, performed using the false discovery rate approach (p < 0.05 corrected), significant volume reductions of the following thalamic nuclei were observed in migraineurs: central nuclear complex (F(1,233) = 6.79), anterior nucleus (F(1,237) = 7.38), and lateral dorsal nucleus (F(1,238) = 6.79). Moreover, reduced striatal volume (F(1,238) = 6.9) was observed in patients. This large-scale study indicates structural thalamic abnormalities in patients with migraine. The thalamic nuclei with abnormal volumes are densely connected to the limbic system. The data hence lend support to the view that higher-order integration systems are altered in migraine.
KW - Adult
KW - Analysis of Variance
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Imaging, Three-Dimensional
KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW - Male
KW - Migraine Disorders
KW - Severity of Illness Index
KW - Thalamic Nuclei
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.1523/jneurosci.2154-15.2015
DO - 10.1523/jneurosci.2154-15.2015
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 26446230
SN - 0270-6474
VL - 35
SP - 13800
EP - 13806
JO - The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
JF - The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
IS - 40
ER -