Neurotransmitter-related functional connectivity changes in serotonin and dopamine systems after mindfulness in medication overuse headache.

Background/HypothesisMindfulness practice has gained attention in managing chronic migraine with medication overuse headache (CM-MOH), showing clinical improvements and functional connectivity reorganization. However, the relationship between these effects and the underlying neurotransmitter systems remains unexplored.MethodsThirty-four CM-MOH patients were divided into treatment as usual (TaU,  = 17) and mindfulness-added-to-TaU (TaU + MIND,  = 17) groups.

Dysfunctional mesocorticolimbic circuitry in cluster headache.

Background: This study aimed to identify mesocorticolimbic functional abnormalities in cluster headache (CH) patients, disentangling the roles of chronification and affective symptoms.

Methods: Using the monetary incentive delay fMRI task to directly engage these pathways, we investigated functional alterations in key regions of this network in chronic (n = 23) and episodic CH patients (n = 49) compared to a control group (n = 32). After processing the fMRI data, we extracted beta values from selected regions and for contrasts of interest and entered them into logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders (such as depressive and anxiety symptoms and smoking habit) to test their association with the diagnoses (chronic CH and control subjects, episodic CH and control subjects).

Predicting imitative performance through cortico-cerebellar circuits: A multivariate and effective connectivity study.

The ability to accurately imitate actions requires the contribution of the Mirror Neuron System (MNS) and of prefrontal and cerebellar regions. The present study aimed at investigating whether functional interaction between cortical areas and the cerebellum during the observation of complex bimanual actions can predict individual ability to imitate the same actions. Nineteen healthy participants underwent an fMRI task in which they observed complex bimanual action sequences (paper folding) and subsequently imitated the same sequences.

Longitudinal neurofunctional changes in medication overuse headache patients after mindfulness practice in a randomized controlled trial (the MIND-CM study).

Background: Mindfulness practice has gained interest in the management of Chronic Migraine associated with Medication Overuse Headache (CM-MOH). Mindfulness is characterized by present-moment self-awareness and relies on attention control and emotion regulation, improving headache-related pain management. Mindfulness modulates the Default Mode Network (DMN), Salience Network (SN), and Fronto-Parietal Network (FPN) functional connectivity.

Involvement of the ipsilateral-to-the-pain anterior-superior hypothalamic subunit in chronic cluster headache.

Background: Despite hypothalamus has long being considered to be involved in the pathophysiology of cluster headache, the inconsistencies of previous neuroimaging studies and a limited understanding of the hypothalamic areas involved, impede a comprehensive interpretation of its involvement in this condition.

Methods: We used an automated algorithm to extract hypothalamic subunit volumes from 105 cluster headache patients (57 chronic and 48 episodic) and 59 healthy individuals; after correcting the measures for the respective intracranial volumes, we performed the relevant comparisons employing logist regression models. Only for subunits that emerged as abnormal, we calculated their correlation with the years of illness and the number of headache attacks per day, and the effects of lithium treatment.

A multimodal imaging approach to foreign accent syndrome. A case report.

This article describes a case of Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) in an Italian woman who developed a Canadian-like foreign accent without brain damage (functional FAS). The patient underwent an in-depth neuroimaging and (neuro)psychological evaluation. Language networks in the frontotemporal-parietal areas were typically activated bilaterally through fMRI and MEG assessments based on task-based data.

X-ray-diffraction characterization of Pt(111) surface nanopatterning induced by C60 adsorption.

Understanding the adsorption mechanisms of large molecules on metal surfaces is a demanding task. Theoretical predictions are difficult because of the large number of atoms that have to be considered in the calculations, and experiments aiming to solve the molecule-substrate interaction geometry are almost impossible with standard laboratory techniques. Here, we show that the adsorption of complex organic molecules can induce perfectly ordered nanostructuring of metal surfaces.