Altered static and dynamic functional network connectivity in post-traumatic headache

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Fengfang Li¹  Song’an Shang¹  Xindao Yin¹  Liyan Lu¹  Huiyou Chen¹  Yu-Chen Chen¹  Peng Wang¹  Vijaya Prakash Muthaiah² 

[1] Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No.68, Changle Road, 210006, Nanjing, China;Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, USA;

关键词: Post-traumatic headache;    Mild traumatic brain injury;    Functional magnetic resonance imaging;    Functional network connectivity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s10194-021-01348-x

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPost-traumatic headache (PTH) is a very common symptom following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), yet much remains unknown about the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of PTH. Neuroimaging studies suggest that aberrant functional network connectivity (FNC) may be an important factor in pain disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the functional characteristics of static FNC (sFNC) and dynamic FNC (dFNC) in mTBI patients with PTH.MethodsWith Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, we prospectively recruited 50 mTBI patients with PTH, who were diagnosed with ICHD-3 beta diagnostic criteria and 39 mTBI without PTH who were well matched for age, gender and education. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning (3.0 T, Philips Medical Systems, Netherlands), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and headache symptom measurement (headache frequency and headache intensity) were performed. The resting-state fMRI sequence took 8 min and 10 s. Independent component analysis and sliding window method were applied to examine the FNC on the basis of nine resting-state networks, namely, default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor network (SMN), executive control network (ECN), auditory network (AuN), attention network (AN), salience network (SN), visual network (VN), and cerebellum network (CN). The differences in sFNC and dFNC were determined and correlated with clinical variables using Pearson rank correlation.ResultsFor sFNC, compared with mTBI patients without PTH, mTB with PTH group showed four altered interactions, including decreased interactions in SN-SMN and VN-DMN pairs, increased sFNC in SN-ECN and SMN-DMN pairs. For dFNC, significant group differences were found in State 2, including increased connectivity alteration in the DMN with CN, DMN with SMN, and AuN with CN. Significant reduced connectivity changes in the DMN with VN was found in State 4. Furthermore, the number of transitions (r=0.394, p=0.005) between states was positively associated with headache frequency. Additionally, dwell time (r=-0.320, p=0.025) in State 1 was negatively correlated with MoCA score.ConclusionsMTBI patients with PTH are characterized with altered sFNC and dFNC, which could provide new perspective to understand the neuropathological mechanism underlying the PTH to determine more appropriate management, and may be a useful imaging biomarker for identifying and predicting mTBI with PTH.

【 授权许可】

CC BY