The relevance of cortical thickness in migraine sufferers and implications to therapy

Introduction Advanced neuroimaging studies have strongly contributed to clarify the gaps in the knowledge about migraine pathophysiology. Cortical thickness has garnered significant interest reflecting physiological processes such as gray matter neurogenesis and synaptic pruning, as well as pathophysiological mechanisms like neurodegeneration or plasticity changes associated with aging and disease. Evidence on cortical thickness highlights significant variability, likely due to migraine clinical complexity but also to methodological issues. Nevertheless, changes in the cortical thickness of areas involved in pain perception and modulation, as well as in cognitive and emotional attributes of pain experiences, have been consistently demonstrated reinforcing the concept of a dysfunctional neuro-limbic pain network in migraine.