Tracking tDCS induced grey matter changes in episodic migraine: a randomized controlled trial

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Heiko Pohl¹  Franz Riederer²  Andreas Gantenbein³  Peter Sandor³  Lars Michels⁴  Roger Luechinger⁵  Simon Schading⁶  Patrick Freund⁷ 

[1] Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Neurological Center Rosenhügel and Karl Landsteiner Institute for Epilepsy Research and Cognitive Neurology, Vienna, Austria;Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;ZURZACH Care, Bad Zurzach, Switzerland;Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 10, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland;Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Spinal Cord Injury Centre Balgrist, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Spinal Cord Injury Centre Balgrist, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK;Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany;

关键词: Transcranial direct current stimulation;    Migraine;    Structural alterations;    Voxel-based morphometry;    Brain plasticity;    Structural MRI;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s10194-021-01347-y

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOccipital transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an effective and safe treatment for migraine attack prevention. Structural brain alterations have been found in migraineurs in regions related to pain modulation and perception, including occipital areas. However, whether these structural alterations can be dynamically modulated through tDCS treatment is understudied.ObjectiveTo track longitudinally grey matter volume changes in occipital areas in episodic migraineurs during and up to five months after occipital tDCS treatment in a single-blind, and sham-controlled study.Methods24 episodic migraineurs were randomized to either receive verum or sham occipital tDCS treatment for 28 days. To investigate dynamic grey matter volume changes patients underwent structural MRI at baseline (prior to treatment), 1.5 months and 5.5 months (after completion of treatment). 31 healthy controls were scanned with the same MRI protocol. Morphometry measures assessed rate of changes over time and between groups by means of tensor-based morphometry.ResultsBefore treatment, migraineurs reported 5.6 monthly migraine days on average. A cross-sectional analysis revealed grey matter volume increases in the left lingual gyrus in migraineurs compared to controls. Four weeks of tDCS application led to a reduction of 1.9 migraine days/month and was paralleled by grey matter volume decreases in the left lingual gyrus in the treatment group; its extent overlapping with that seen at baseline.ConclusionThis study shows that migraineurs have increased grey matter volume in the lingual gyrus, which can be modified by tDCS. Tracking structural plasticity in migraineurs provides a potential neuroimaging biomarker for treatment monitoring.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03237754. Registered 03 August 2017 – retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03237754.

【 授权许可】

CC BY