Dysfunctional Dynamics Seen in Pain Pathways in Migraine

Last Updated: December 12, 2011.

Altered interictal connectivity levels decrease pain modulation

MONDAY, Dec. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with migraines have an interictal increase in resting state intrinsic connectivity between the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) and both nociceptive and sensory processing pathways, according to a study published online Dec. 7 in the Annals of Neurology.

Caterina Mainero, M.D., Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School in Charlestown, Mass., and colleagues examined functional connectivity of the PAG in migraine. Seventeen individuals with migraine (during a pain-free state) and 17 gender- and age-matched controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare functional connectivity between PAG and a subset of brain areas involved in nociceptive/somatosensory processing and pain modulation. The correlation between the average monthly frequency of migraine attacks, as well as allodynia and intrinsic resting-state correlations within PAG networks, were evaluated.

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