Brain Plasticity of Primary Dysmenorrhea: Default Mode Network Abnormalities in Primary Dysmenorrhea

• Main Authors: Chi-Tsung Chien, 簡吉聰
• Other Authors: Jen-Chuen Hsieh
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/96919637195251329333

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 腦科學研究所 === 98 === Objective: Dysmenorrhea is a common painful disorder with fluctuation according to menstrual cycle in women during productive age. Recent studies of chronic pain have showed altered cortical activity unrelated to pain, but the correlations between the structural impairments and psychological or cognitive dysfunctions are not clearly known. Here we propose that primary dysmenorrhea causes not only abnormal responses to stimuli due to altered central representation, but also harms the default-mode network (DMN), a functional connectivity of cortical regions known to be active at rest. Methods: Resting state fMRI scanning were performed in 17 primary dysmenorrhea (PDM) patients and 15 matched healthy women. Independent component analysis was used to dissect their functional connectivity. The DMN was chose according to the template and was compared between two groups. Results: No significant changes in functional connectivities were noted across menstrual cycle. But PDM showed increased functional connectivity to DMN in left lateral globus pallidus, right superior frontal gyrus, cuneus, middle frontal gyrus, insula, precentral gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus. Conclusion: Functional connectivity might not be influence across menstrual cycle. Like other chronic pain studies, dysmenorrhea indeed changes the functional connectivity to DMN. This might be due to long-term cyclic pain stimulation.