title: Altered regional cortical thickness and subcortical volume in women with primary dysmenorrhoea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is emerging evidence that primary dysmenorrhoea (PDM) is associated with altered brain function and structure. However, few studies have investigated changes in regional cortical thickness and subcortical volumes in PDM patients. The purpose of this study was to characterize differences in both cortical thickness and subcortical volumes between PDM patients and healthy controls (HCs).
  
  
  METHODS
  T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were obtained from 44 PDM patients and 32 HCs matched for age and handedness. Cortical thickness was compared in multiple locations across the continuous cortical surface, and subcortical volumes were compared on a structure-by-structure basis. Correlation analysis was then used to evaluate relationships between the clinical symptoms and abnormal brain structure in PDM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PDM patients had significantly increased cortical thickness in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insula (IN), primary/secondary sensory area (SI/SII), superior temporal cortex (STC), precuneus (pCUN) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Meanwhile, significantly decreased subcortical volumes of the caudate, thalamus and amygdala were found in PDM patients. Moreover, there were significant positive correlations between the PDM-related duration and the OFC, SFC, STC and IN. The MPQ scores were positively correlated with the pCUN.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide further evidence for grey matter changes in patients with PDM, and in addition, the results support relationships between the structural abnormalities and their role in symptom production. All these results are likely to be potential valuable to provide us with direct information about the neural basis of PDM.
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Acupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Acupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Life Science Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, USA.|Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA.
authors.forename: V D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Calhoun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult