title: Hypothalamic gray matter volume loss in hypnic headache.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hypnic headache (HH) is a rare primary headache disorder characterized by strictly nocturnal headache attacks that mostly occur at the same time at night. The pathophysiology of this disease is poorly understood, but hypothalamic involvement was suspected as the hypothalamus represents the cerebral management center of sleep regulation and pain control.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen patients with HH and 14 age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls were investigated using magnetic resonance imaging-based voxel-based morphometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We detected gray matter volume decrease in the posterior hypothalamus of HH patients. Additional gray matter decrease was observed in brain areas known to be associated with cerebral pain processing, including the cingulate cortex, operculum, and frontal lobe, as well as in the temporal lobe.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data confirm the hypothesized involvement of the posterior hypothalamus in the pathophysiology of HH and emphasize the importance of this structure for sleep regulation and pain control.
authors: Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. dagny.holle@uk-essen.de
authors: Dagny
authors: D
authors: Holle
authors: Steffen
authors: S
authors: Naegel
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Krebs
authors: Charly
authors: C
authors: Gaul
authors: Elke
authors: E
authors: Gizewski
authors: Hans-Christoph
authors: HC
authors: Diener
authors: Zaza
authors: Z
authors: Katsarava
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Obermann
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D051270:Headache Disorders, Primary / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000473:pathology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036421:Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size