Alterations of white matter microstructure in migraine patients vary in the peri-ictal phases.

Alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure are commonly found in migraine patients. Here, we employ a longitudinal study of episodic migraine without aura using diffusion MRI (dMRI) to investigate whether such WM microstructure alterations vary through the different phases of the pain cycle. Fourteen patients with episodic migraine without aura related with menstruation were scanned through four phases of their (spontaneous) migraine cycle (interictal, preictal, ictal and postictal).

Preserved working memory performance along with subcortical modulation during peri-ictal phases in spontaneous migraine attacks.

Objective: To analyze cognitive performance and brain activation during a working memory task in patients with migraine during various phases of the migraine cycle and compare to healthy participants.

Background: Cognitive difficulties reported during migraine attacks remain poorly understood, despite evidence that the lateral frontoparietal network undergoes reversible disturbances and decreased activation during attacks. Recent findings in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging suggest that brain areas involved in this network interact with subcortical regions during spontaneous migraine attacks.

Impact of truncating diffusion MRI scans on diffusional kurtosis imaging.

Objective: Diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) extends diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), characterizing non-Gaussian diffusion effects but requires longer acquisition times. To ensure the robustness of DKI parameters, data acquisition ordering should be optimized allowing for scan interruptions or shortening. Three methodologies were used to examine how reduced diffusion MRI scans impact DKI histogram-metrics: 1) the electrostatic repulsion model (Opt); 2) spherical codes (Opt); 3) random (Random).