Altered structure of the vestibular cortex in patients with vestibular migraine

Abstract

Introduction

Previous voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) studies have revealed changes in brain structure in patients with vestibular migraine (VM); these findings have improved the present understanding of pathophysiology. Few other studies have assessed the association between structural changes and the severity of dizziness in VM. This study aimed to examine the structural changes and cortical morphometric features associated with migraine and vertigo attacks in patients with VM.

Methods

Twenty patients with VM and 20 healthy normal volunteers were scanned on a 3‐tesla MRI scanner. The gray matter volume (GMV) was estimated using the automated Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12). The relationship between clinical parameters and morphometric abnormalities was also analyzed in VM.

Results

Compared with controls, VM patients have decreased GMV in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), posterior insula–operculum regions, inferior parietal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus. Moreover, patient scores on the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) score showed a negative correlation with GMV in the posterior insula–operculum regions.

Conclusion

These findings demonstrated abnormality in the central vestibular cortex and correlations between dizziness severity and GMV in core regions of the vestibular cortex of VM patients, suggesting a pathophysiological role of these core vestibular regions in VM patients.

Abstract

This study employs computational anatomy toolbox (CAT12) to assess the patterns of regional gray matter volumetric (GMV) abnormalities in patients with vestibular migraine (VM). Our results demonstrated that structural multiple vestibular cortex deficits in VM patients, especially abnormalities in posterior insula–operculum region of vestibular cortical core region, suggesting that these areas were involved in the pathophysiological of VM.