Frequency-Specific Alterations in Brain Function in Patients with Primary Dysmenorrhea

Abstract

Objective Recent neuroimaging studies have found that brain function is abnormal in primary dysmenorrhea (PDM). The present study aimed to explore frequency-specific brain alterations and their occurrence in the PDM. Methods Forty-seven patients with PDM and 36 matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The alterations in brain function in patients with PDM were assessed using different frequency filter bands (Slow5, Slow4, Slow3, and full low frequency) and functional connectivity density (FCD) approach. The clinical significance of the altered FCD was then explored. Additionally, mediation analysis was employed to detect the altered FCD-mediated clinical relationships in PDM. Results Frequency-specific FCD alterations have been observed in patients with PDM, especially in the central executive, default mode, sensorimotor networks, and the hippocampus. The altered full low-frequency FCD in the hippocampus was associated with the duration of disease and pain severity scores. The altered Slow 5 FCD in the second somatosensory area (S2) was associated with the severity of pain in PDM. Furthermore, the FCD in S2 mediated the duration associated with pain symptoms in PDM. Conclusion The present study identified frequency-specific FCD alterations in PDM and suggested that the S2 area is a potential treatment target for PDM.

Acupuncture modulates the frequency-specific functional connectivity density in primary dysmenorrhea

“…patients with PDM exhibited frequency-dependent distribution patterns of brain activity. Specifically, these altered brain areas, especially in the central executive network (CEN), default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor network (SMN), and the hippocampus (Yu et al, 2021). Notably, we observed a decreased gFCD in DLPFC at the Slow-5 band and an increased gFCD in the hippocampus at the Slow-3 band, indicating that the patients with PDM showed aberrant pain processing.…”

“…The inclusion and exclusion criteria in this study were similar to our previous study (Yu et al, 2021). The patients with PDM were recruited primarily through the gynecology outpatient and inpatient sections at the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sichuan University, Southwest University of Finance and Economics, Southwest Jiaotong University, and Southwest University for Nationalities.…”

“…With the global functional connectivity density (gFCD) analysis, a graph-based and data-driven approach that quantifies the number of whole-brain connections over the whole-brain ( Tomasi et al, 2016 ), our previous study first confirmed that the patients with PDM exhibited frequency-dependent distribution patterns of brain activity. Specifically, these altered brain areas, especially in the central executive network (CEN), default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor network (SMN), and the hippocampus ( Yu et al, 2021 ). Notably, we observed a decreased gFCD in DLPFC at the Slow-5 band and an increased gFCD in the hippocampus at the Slow-3 band, indicating that the patients with PDM showed aberrant pain processing.…”

“…In this study, we hypothesized that acupuncture might normalize the brain regions previously identified ( Yu et al, 2021 ) as aberrant in PDM for therapeutic purposes, and this modulation was of frequency specific. First, we investigated how acupuncture modulates brain activity by analyzing gFCD changes across multiple frequency bands before and after treatment.…”

The hypertrophic amygdala shape associated with anxiety in patients with primary dysmenorrhea during pain-free phase: insight from surface-based shape analysis

“…As a genuine type of chronic pain, recent neuroimaging studies have indicated that the brain structural and functional alteration is also involved in the pathophysiological of PDM (Low et al, 2018). The brain functional alteration in PDM patients has been found in descending pain modulatory systems and default mode network (Wei et al, 2016;Wu et al, 2016;Yu et al, 2021). For the structural brain, the abnormalities have been found in the regional gray matter volume (Tu et al, 2010(Tu et al, , 2013 and cortical thickness (Liu et al, 2016), mainly involved in pain perception, transmission, modulation, as well as emotion processing (Low et al, 2018;Tu et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2019).…”