PhD Scientific Days 2026

Poster Session 2.K - Mental Health Sciences

Methodological Differences Affect Hypothalamic Functional Connectivity in Migraine

Name of the presenter

Németh, Anna

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Department of Pharmacodynamics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

Authors

Anna Németh¹, Kinga Gecse¹, Bernadett Nagy¹, Dániel Baksa², Csaba Sándor Aranyi³, Miklós Emri³, György Bagdy¹, Gabriella Juhász¹
1: Department of Pharmacodynamics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Center of Pharmacology and Drug Research & Development, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; NAP3.0-SE Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group, Hungarian Brain Research Program, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
2: Department of Pharmacodynamics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Center of Pharmacology and Drug Research & Development, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; NAP3.0-SE Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group, Hungarian Brain Research Program, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; epartment of Personality and Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
3: Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

Text of the abstract

Introduction
Resting-state fMRI is widely used to investigate functional connectivity alterations in migraine patients. However, reproducibility is limited. Connectivity findings may be influenced by preprocessing and nuisance correction strategies. This is relevant in migraine, where subtle changes may depend on methodological choices.
Aims
This study aimed to compare an in house developed preprocessing pipeline, using the combination of different state-of-the art program packages, and the CONN-based preprocessing followed by SPM second-level analysis, using the same resting-state fMRI dataset from migraine patients and focusing on hypothalamic connectivity.
Methods
Resting-state fMRI data of 39 migraine patients were analysed using seed-based functional connectivity of the right (rHYPT, 6, -6, 12), and the left (lHYPT, -6, -6, -12) hypothalamus seeds. In CONN, correction was made for age and gender, while motion correction was incorporated in the preprocessed images. In the in house developed pipeline, second-level analysis was performed in SPM with correction for age, gender, and motion parameters. Connectivity results were compared by direction, localization, and strength.
Results
The two approaches resulted in different hypothalamic connectivity patterns. In CONN, both hypothalamic seeds showed mostly negative connectivity. These regions included the left middle temporal gyrus and medial frontal regions, including the superior medial frontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, and gyrus rectus. In contrast, the in house developed pipeline with SPM second-level analysis showed predominantly positive connectivity. The left hypothalamus showed positive connectivity with the left cerebellar Crus II/Cerebellum 7b and the right inferior frontal triangular gyrus.
Conclusion
The findings demonstrate that distinct preprocessing pipelines can result in differing resting-state functional connectivity outcomes using the same population and dataset. The observed differences were directional and anatomical. These findings underline the significance of transparent preprocessing, motion and nuisance correction reporting, and pipeline comparison in resting-state fMRI studies.
Funding
2017-1.2.1-NKP-2017-00002; NAP2022-I-4/2022; TKP2021-EGA-25; NKFIH K143391; EKÖP-2025-624