The journal of headache and pain
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Clinical differentiation between pain mechanisms of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthralgia and osteoarthritis (OA) is challenging. The aims were to compare somatosensory function at the TMJs and conditioned pain modulation (CPM) effects between TMJ arthralgia and OA patients diagnosed clinically and based on different imaging techniques and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 41). ⋯ Pain profiles including somatosensory function differed between TMJ arthralgia and OA patients although CPM effects were similar in patients and controls. Thus, different TMJ pain conditions may share common pain mechanisms but the present study for the first time also indicated that differential pain mechanisms could be involved.
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The marginal division of neostriatum (MrD) is a flat, pan-shaped zone between the neostriatum and the globus pallidus, and previous documents demonstrated that it was involved in the modulation of pain. The aim of this study is to investigate the roles of the MrD of the human brain in the chronicization migraine using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). ⋯ This study confirmed the double neuromodulation network of MrD in pain modulation and migraine chronicization; however, the mechanism requires further investigation.
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Migraine is characterized by a series of phases (inter-ictal, pre-ictal, ictal, and post-ictal). It is of great interest whether resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) is differentiable between these phases. ⋯ Resting-state EEG power density and effective connectivity differ between migraine phases and provide an insight into the complex neurophysiology of migraine.
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Resting state magnetic resonance imaging allows studying functionally interconnected brain networks. Here we were aimed to verify functional connectivity between brain networks at rest and its relationship with thalamic microstructure in migraine without aura (MO) patients between attacks. ⋯ The present results are the first evidence supporting the hypothesis that an abnormal resting within networks connectivity associated with significant differences in baseline thalamic microstructure could contribute to interictal migraine pathophysiology.
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Cluster Headache (CH) is a severe primary headache, with a poorly understood pathophysiology. Complex genetic factors are likely to play a role in CH etiology; however, no confirmed gene associations have been identified. The aim of this study is to identify genetic variants influencing risk to CH and to explore the potential pathogenic mechanisms. ⋯ Our study represents the first genome-wide association study of common SNPs and rare exonic variants influencing risk for CH. The most interesting results implicate ADCYAP1R1 and MME gene variants in CH susceptibility and point to a role for genes involved in pain processing. These findings provide new insights into the pathogenesis of CH that need further investigation and replication in larger CH samples.