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MINI: In multivariate logistic regression analysis in 1,128 elderly people, NeP(+) (odds ratio (OR): 3.01), positive spinal inclination (OR: 1.14), and high VAS for LBP (OR: 1.04) were identified as risk factors for low physical QOL, and NeP(+) (OR: 5.32) was the only significant risk factor for low mental QOL.
Learn More >Experimental models of pain in humans are crucial for understanding pain mechanisms. The most often used muscle pain models involve the injection of algesic substances, such as hypertonic saline solution or nerve growth factor, or the induction of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) by an unaccustomed exercise routine. However, these models are either invasive or take substantial time to develop, and the elicited level of pain/soreness is difficult to control. To overcome these shortcomings, we propose to elicit muscle pain by a localized application of short-wave diathermy (SWD).
Learn More >Changes in brain morphology are hypothesized to be an underlying process that drive the widespread pain and motor impairment in patients with chronic neck pain. However, no earlier research assessed whole-brain cortical morphology in these patients. This case-control study assesses group-differences in whole-brain morphology between female healthy controls (HC; n = 34), and female patients with chronic idiopathic neck pain (CINP; n = 37) and whiplash-associated disorders (CWAD; n = 39). Additionally, the associations between whole-brain morphology and motor performance including balance, strength, and neuromuscular control were assessed. Cortical volume, thickness, and surface area were derived from high resolution T1-weighted images. T2*-weighted images were obtained to exclude traumatic brain injury. Vertex-wise general-linear-model-analysis revealed cortical thickening in the left precuneus and increased volume in the left superior parietal gyrus of patients with CINP compared to HC, and cortical thickening of the left superior parietal gyrus compared to HC and CWAD. Patients with CWAD showed a smaller cortical volume in the right precentral and superior temporal gyrus compared to HC. ANCOVA-analysis revealed worse neuromuscular control in CWAD compared to HC and CINP, and in CINP compared to HC. Patients with CWAD showed decreased levels of strength and sway area compared to CINP and HC. Partial correlation analysis revealed significant associations between the volume of the precentral gyrus, and neuromuscular control and strength together with an association between the volume of the superior temporal gyrus and strength. Our results emphasize the role of altered gray matter alterations in women with chronic neck pain, and its association with pain and motor impairment.
Learn More >ATP1A2 has been identified as the genetic cause of familial hemiplegic migraine type 2. Over 80 ATP1A2 mutations have been reported, but no data from Chinese family studies has been included. Here, we report the first familial hemiplegic migraine type 2 Chinese family with a novel missense mutation.
Learn More >Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS; gammaCore®) has the potential to prevent migraine days in patients with migraine on the basis of mechanistic rationale and pilot clinical data.
Learn More >Avoidance of physical activity is a common migraine management strategy. Anxiety sensitivity (i.e. fear of anxiety and bodily sensations due to physical, cognitive, or social consequences) is a potential correlate of physical activity avoidance and may strengthen beliefs about physical activity's detrimental effect on migraine.
Learn More >Arrhythmic fluctuations in neural activity occur at many levels of the nervous system. Such activity does not have a characteristic temporal periodicity but can exhibit statistical similarities, most commonly power-law scaling behavior, which is indicative of scale-free dynamics. The recurrence of scaling laws across many different systems and its manifestation in behavior has prompted a search for unifying principles in human brain function. With this in mind, a focused search for abnormities in scale-free dynamics is of considerable clinical relevance to migraine and other clinical pain disorders. Here we examined the scale-free properties of the resting-state fMRI signal in the broadband frequency range known to be related to spontaneous neural activity (0.01-0.1Hz). In a large cohort of episodic migraine patients (N=40), we observed that the strength of long-range temporal correlations in the fMRI signal (captured by the scaling exponent α) was significantly higher in the sensorimotor network compared to healthy controls. Increases in the scaling exponent were positively correlated with fMRI signal variance and negatively correlated with patient's self-reported headache intensity. These changes in the fMRI signal suggest that the temporal structure of amplitude fluctuations carries valuable information about the dynamic state of the underlying neuronal networks and ensuing sensory impairments in migraine. The demonstrated scaling laws pose a novel quantitative approach for examining clinically relevant inter-individual variability in migraine and other pain disorders.
Learn More >Although migraine and persistent post-traumatic headache often share phenotypic characteristics, few studies have interrogated the pathophysiological differences underlying these headache types. While there is now some indication of differences in brain structure between migraine and persistent post-traumatic headache, differences in brain function have not been adequately investigated. The objective of this study was to compare static and dynamic functional connectivity patterns in migraine versus persistent post-traumatic headache using resting-state magnetic resonance imaging.
Learn More >Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) released from trigeminal nerve fibres indicates trigeminal activation and has a key role in migraine pathophysiology. The trigeminal nerve directly innervates the eye. Therefore, in this study, we compared Calcitonin gene-related peptide in tear fluid of migraine patients and healthy controls.
Learn More >Recently, a relationship was found between periodontitis and chronic migraine. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a key element in migraine pathophysiology. However, no information exists of the potential association between periodontal inflammation and CGRP in chronic migraine. The aim of the study was, therefore, to investigate whether there is a link between periodontitis and peripheral levels of CGRP in a cohort of patients with chronic migraine.
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