【論文摘要】Single Session Sensory-Level Median Nerve Stimulation Induces Cortical Activity Changes in Patients With Migraine

【論文摘要】單次正中神經電刺激引發偏頭痛患者的腦生理變化

林依玟(Yi-Wun Lin) ； 潘俐伶(Li-Ling Hope Pan) ； 王署君(Shuu-Jiun Wang) ； 周立偉(Li-Wei Chou)

《物理治療》 47卷2期 (2022/06) Pp. 111-111

https://doi.org/10.6215/FJPT.202206.O07

摘要

Background and Purpose: Migraine is one of the most disabling neurological diseases. Recent studies have shown that peripheral electrical stimulation alleviates headache. Migraine affects neural activity and functional connectivity between brain regions. This study aimed to investigate the cortical responses to single session median nerve stimulation (MNS) in patients with migraine without aura (MwoA) and healthy controls (HC). Methods: We recruited 16 MwoA (33.8 ± 10.6 years, 15 females) and 14 HC (32.7 ± 11.5 years, 9 females). 30-minute sensory-level MNS was applied on the left volar forearm. Brain activity before and after the MNS were recorded using a 32-channel Electroencephalography (EEG) system. EEG relative power spectral density (rPSD) and coherence between various brain regions were calculated to represent neural activity and functional connectivity, respectively. Mechanical Punctate Pain Threshold (MPT) was measured at the beginning, during and after the MNS intervention. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences between groups, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z test was used to examine the correlation coefficient. Results: Migraine patients who have higher monthly migraine days (MMD), a commonly used index for migraine severity, exhibited lower pain threshold (r = -0.623) and lower alpha band coherence, indicating patients with more severe migraine have lower functional connectivity between motor cortex and other brain regions. We found that MNS increased cortical activity (β and γ rPSD) and functional connectivity (δ coherence) in MwoA, but no changes were observed in HC. Theta band coherence is related to pain perception, and our results showed that migraine patients who had greater increase in theta band coherence after MNS exhibited greater increase in MPT. Conclusions: Our preliminary results indicated that one session of median nerve stimulation can promote neural activity and functional connectivity between brain regions in patients with migraine. Clinical Relevance: Our research demonstrates that MNS could modulate and potentially treat migraine brain.