Mesocorticolimbic system abnormalities in chronic cluster headache patients: A neural signature?

Autor: Stefania Ferraro, Jean Paul Medina, Anna Nigri, Luca Giani, Greta Demichelis, Chiara Pinardi, Maria Grazia Bruzzone, Alberto Cecchini Proietti, Benjamin Becker, Luisa Chiapparini, Massimo Leone
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache. 42(10)
ISSN: 1468-2982
Popis: Background Converging evidence suggests that anatomical and functional mesocorticolimbic abnormalities support the chronicization of pain disorders. Methods We mapped structural and functional alterations of the mesocorticolimbic system in a sample of chronic cluster headache patients (n = 28) in comparison to age and sex-matched healthy individuals (n = 28) employing structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI. Results Univariate logistic regression models showed that several of the examined structures/areas (i.e., the bilateral nucleus accumbens, ventral diencephalon, hippocampus, and frontal pole, and the right amygdala) differentiated chronic cluster headache patients from healthy individuals (p Conclusion Our results showed that chronic cluster headache patients present anatomical and functional maladaptation of the mesocorticolimbic system, with functional data indicating a possible prefrontal areas' failure to modulate the mesolimbic structures. These results were opposite to what we hypothesized based on the previous literature on chronic pain conditions. Future studies should assess whether the observed mesocorticolimbic abnormalities are due to the neuroprotective effects of the assumed medications, or to the frequent comorbidity of CH with neuropsychiatric disorders or if they are a genuine neural signature of CH and/or chronic cluster headache condition.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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