title: Hierarchical alteration of brain structural and functional networks in female migraine sufferers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the changes of brain structural and functional connectivity networks underlying the pathophysiology in migraine. We aimed to investigate how the cortical network reorganization is altered by frequent cortical overstimulation associated with migraine.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Gray matter volumes and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging signal correlations were employed to construct structural and functional networks between brain regions in 43 female patients with migraine (PM) and 43 gender-matched healthy controls (HC) by using graph theory-based approaches. Compared with the HC group, the patients showed abnormal global topology in both structural and functional networks, characterized by higher mean clustering coefficients without significant change in the shortest absolute path length, which indicated that the PM lost optimal topological organization in their cortical networks. Brain hubs related to pain-processing revealed abnormal nodal centrality in both structural and functional networks, including the precentral gyrus, orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, thalamus, temporal pole of the middle temporal gyrus and the inferior parietal gyrus. Negative correlations were found between migraine duration and regions with abnormal centrality. Furthermore, the dysfunctional connections in patients' cortical networks formed into a connected component and three dysregulated modules were identified involving pain-related information processing and motion-processing visual networks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results may reflect brain alteration dynamics resulting from migraine and suggest that long-term and high-frequency headache attacks may cause both structural and functional connectivity network reorganization. The disrupted information exchange between brain areas in migraine may be reshaped into a hierarchical modular structure progressively.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Jixin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Guoying
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shiwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Jiaofen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nan
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: von Deneen
authors.forename: Fanrong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*