title: Female migraineurs show lack of insular thinning with age.
abstract: Gray matter loss in cortical regions is a normal ageing process for the healthy brain. There have been few studies on the process of ageing of the brain in chronic neurological disorders. In this study, we evaluated changes in the cortical thickness by age in 92 female subjects (46 patients with migraine and 46 healthy controls) using high-field magnetic resonance imaging. The results indicate that in contrast to healthy subjects, migraineurs show a lack of thinning in the insula by age. The functional significance of the lack of thinning is unknown, but it may contribute to the overall cortical hyperexcitability of the migraine brain because the region is tightly involved in a number of major brain networks involved in interoception, salience, nociception, and autonomic function, including the default mode network.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Center for Pain and the Brain and PAIN Group, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, PAIN Group, Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Anesthesia and Critical Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nasim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maleki
authors.forename: Gabi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barmettler
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Moulton
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scrivani
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veggeberg
authors.forename: Egilius L H
authors.initials: ELH
authors.lastname: Spierings
authors.forename: Rami
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burstein
authors.forename: Lino
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Becerra
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Borsook
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000639:trends; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D055815:Young Adult