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. 2023 Jan 22;13(2):183.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci13020183.

Decreased ALFF and Functional Connectivity of the Thalamus in Vestibular Migraine Patients

Xia Zhe  1   2 , Min Tang  2 , Kai Ai  3 , Xiaoyan Lei  2 , Xiaoling Zhang  2 , Chenwang Jin  1
Affiliations

Decreased ALFF and Functional Connectivity of the Thalamus in Vestibular Migraine Patients

Xia Zhe et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Background: The thalamus has been reported to be associated with pain modulation and processing. However, the functional changes that occur in the thalamus of vestibular migraine (VM) patients remain unknown.

Methods: In total, 28 VM patients and 28 healthy controls who were matched for age and sex underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. They also responded to standardized questionnaires aimed at assessing the clinical features associated with migraine and vertigo. Differences in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) were analyzed and brain regions with altered ALFF in the two groups were used for further analysis of whole-brain functional connectivity (FC). The relationship between clusters and clinical features was investigated by correlation analyses.

Results: The ALFF in the thalamus was significantly decreased in the VM group versus the control group. In the VM group, the ALFF in the left thalamus negatively correlated with VM episode frequency. Furthermore, the left thalamus showed significantly weaker FC than both regions of the medial prefrontal cortex, both regions of the anterior cingulum cortex, the left superior/middle temporal gyrus, and the left temporal pole in the VM group.

Conclusions: The thalamus plays an important role in VM patients and it is suggested that connectivity abnormalities of the thalamocortical region contribute to abnormal pain information processing and modulation, transmission, and multisensory integration in patients with VM.

Keywords: amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation; functional connectivity; resting state; thalamus; vestibular migraine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The Philips or this cooperation did not affect the authenticity and objectivity of the experimental results of this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Regional ALFF reduction in VM patients in contrast to HC. Pink signifies decreased ALFF. The axial image was overlaid on the transverse section of the MNI-152 standard anatomical image. Blue line represents the layers in the sagittal. Numbers indicate z slice. The color scale denotes the t-value. R, right; L, left.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Abnormal FC of VM patients in contrast to HC. Pink signifies decreased ALFF. The axial image was overlaid on the transverse section of the MNI-152 standard anatomical image. Blue line represents the layers in the sagittal. Numbers indicate z slice. The color scale denotes the t-value. R, right; L, left.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlation between the altered ALFF of the left thalamus and the frequency of VM attacks in patients with VM. Each Red dot denotes a sample. The solid line indicates the approximate line using partial correlation method. Smoothing curves represent the 95% of confidence intervals from the fit.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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