Atypical functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and other brain regions in a rat model of recurrent headache

作者：Zhihua Jia, Xiaoyan Chen, Wenjing Tang, Dengfa Zhao, Shengyuan Yu · 发表于：Molecular Pain · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1177/1744806919842483 · 被引用次数：26 · 研究领域：Migraine and Headache Studies、Neuroscience of respiration and sleep、Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

We explored the atypical functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and other brain areas in rats subjected to repeated meningeal nociception. The rat model was established by infusing an inflammatory soup through supradural catheters in conscious rats. Rats were subdivided according to the frequency of the inflammatory soup infusions. Functional connectivity analysis seeded on the anterior cingulate cortex was performed on rats 21 days after inflammatory soup infusion. Glyceryl trinitrate was injected following baseline scanning in the low-frequency inflammatory soup group and magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired 1 h after the injection. The rats exhibited nociceptive behavior after high-frequency inflammatory soup infusion. The anterior cingulate cortex showed increased functional connectivity with the cerebellum in the inflammatory soup groups. The medulla showed increased functional connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex in the ictal period in the low-frequency inflammatory soup rats. Several areas showed increased functional connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex in the high-frequency inflammatory soup group, including the pontine tegmentum, midbrain, thalamus, corpus callosum, hippocampus, and retrosplenial, visual, sensory, and motor cortices. This study indicated that the medulla participates in the early stage of a migraine attack and may be associated with the initiation of migraine. Sensitization of the trigeminal nocic...