Attentional Network Differences Between Migraineurs and Non-migraine Controls: fMRI Evidence

Abstract

Migraine is a headache disorder characterized by sensitivity to light and sound. Recent research has revealed abnormal visual-spatial attention in migraineurs in between headache attacks. Here, we ask whether these attentional abnormalities can be attributed to specific regions of the known attentional network to help characterize the abnormalities in migraine. Specifically, the ventral frontoparietal network of attention is involved with assessing the behavioural relevance of unattended stimuli. Given the decreased suppression of unattended stimuli reported in migraineurs, we hypothesized that migraineurs would have abnormal processing in the ventral portion of the frontoparietal network of attention. To address this, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the attentional control networks during visual spatial-orienting tasks in migraineurs (N = 16) as compared to non-migraine controls (N = 16). We employed two visual orienting paradigms with target discrimination tasks: (1) voluntary orienting to central arrow cues, and (2) reflexive orienting to peripheral flash cues. While both groups showed activation in the key areas of attentional processing networks, migraineurs showed less activation than non-migraine controls in a key area of the ventral frontoparietal network of attention, the right temporal parietal junction (rTPJ), during both voluntary and reflexive visual spatial orienting. Given the role of rTPJ is to assess the visual environment for behaviorally relevant sensory stimuli outside the focus of attention and signal other attentional areas to reorient attention to behaviorally salient stimuli, our findings fit with previous research showing that migraineurs lack suppression of unattended events and have heightened orienting to sudden onset stimuli in peripheral locations.

Auditory attention alterations in migraine: a behavioral and MEG/EEG study

“…There is no observable evidence that the attentional capture and arousal effects of the distracting sounds were different among migraineurs compared to control participants at the behavioral level. This result is in line with a previous study finding no increased impact over performance of visual distractors during a visual cueing task in migraine [40].…”

Migraine Subclassification via a Data‐Driven Automated Approach Using Multimodality Factor Mixture Modeling of Brain Structure Measurements

“…42 Frontal regions that contributed to migraine subclassification in this study likely participate in affective and cognitive components of pain processing, and many are regions previously identified as aberrant in migraine. 43,44 Compared to individuals who have migraine without allodynia, those who have migraine with allodynia have been shown in prior studies to have aberrant paininduced activation of middle frontal gyrus and somatosensory cortex and altered functional connectivity with regions including the precuneus, middle and superior temporal gyri, middle and superior frontal gyri, and inferior and superor parietal gyri, all regions that contributed to migraine subclassification within this study. 25,27 Also, several regions that contributed to migraine subclassification in this study also contributed to migraine classification models consisting of brain structure or function in previously published studies (many of the research participants in those studies were also included in the current study).…”

“…Atypical function of these regions that integrate somatosensory, visual, and auditory stimuli might contribute to the hypersensitivies associated with migraine and the exacerbation of headache via visual and auditory stimuli . Frontal regions that contributed to migraine subclassification in this study likely participate in affective and cognitive components of pain processing, and many are regions previously identified as aberrant in migraine . Compared to individuals who have migraine without allodynia, those who have migraine with allodynia have been shown in prior studies to have aberrant pain‐induced activation of middle frontal gyrus and somatosensory cortex and altered functional connectivity with regions including the precuneus, middle and superior temporal gyri, middle and superior frontal gyri, and inferior and superor parietal gyri, all regions that contributed to migraine subclassification within this study .…”

Migraine: What Imaging Reveals

“…Results of this study are intriguing and indicate a potential abnormal modulation of pain-cognition circuits in patients with migraine [70•]. Mickleborough et al (2015) [71] used an fMRI visual attention-orienting task to interrogate brain activation patterns in interictal migraineurs and healthy controls. Interestingly, although migraineurs performed as well as healthy controls on the attention task, migraineurs showed less activation of the ventral fronto-parietal attention network including the right temporal parietal junction, a region relevant for re-orienting attention to salient stimuli [71].…”

“…Mickleborough et al (2015) [71] used an fMRI visual attention-orienting task to interrogate brain activation patterns in interictal migraineurs and healthy controls. Interestingly, although migraineurs performed as well as healthy controls on the attention task, migraineurs showed less activation of the ventral fronto-parietal attention network including the right temporal parietal junction, a region relevant for re-orienting attention to salient stimuli [71]. Results by Tessitore et al (2015) have indicated that, although migraineurs show weaker connectivity in their executive control network relative to healthy controls, there is an absence of performance deficits on a variety of neurocognitive measures [30].…”