Table_2_Cortical Thickness in Migraine: A Coordinate-Based Meta-Analysis.DOCX

Cortical thickness (CTh) via surface-based morphometry analysis is a popular method to characterize brain morphometry. Many studies have been performed to investigate CTh abnormalities in migraine. However, the results from these studies were not consistent and even conflicting. These divergent results hinder us to obtain a clear picture of brain morphometry regarding CTh alterations in migraine. Coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) is a promising technique to quantitatively pool individual neuroimaging studies to identify consistent brain areas involved. Electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, and SinoMed) and other sources (bioRxiv and reference lists of relevant articles and reviews) were systematically searched for studies that compared regional CTh differences between patients with migraine and healthy controls (HCs) up to May 15, 2020. A CBMA was performed using the Seed-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images approach. In total, we identified 16 studies with 17 datasets reported that were eligible for the CBMA. The 17 datasets included 872 patients with migraine (average sample size 51.3, mean age 39.6 years, 721 females) and 949 HCs (average sample size 59.3, mean age 44.2 years, 680 females). The CBMA detected no statistically significant consistency of CTh alterations in patients with migraine relative to HCs. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis verified this result to be robust. Metaregression analyses revealed that this CBMA result was not confounded by age, gender, aura, attack frequency per month, and illness duration. Our CBMA adds to the evidence of the replication crisis in neuroimaging research that is increasingly recognized. Many potential confounders, such as underpowered sample size, heterogeneous patient selection criteria, and differences in imaging collection and methodology, may contribute to the inconsistencies of CTh alterations in migraine, which merit attention before planning future research on this topic.

通过基于表面的形态测量学（surface-based morphometry）分析获取的皮层厚度（Cortical thickness, CTh）是表征大脑形态测量学特征的常用方法。已有诸多研究探讨了偏头痛患者的皮层厚度异常情况，但现有研究结果并不统一，甚至相互矛盾。这些分歧性结论阻碍我们清晰阐明偏头痛患者皮层厚度改变相关的大脑形态学全貌。基于坐标的元分析（Coordinate-based Meta-Analysis, CBMA）是一种颇具前景的技术，可通过定量整合多项独立神经影像学研究，以识别具有一致性的相关脑区。我们系统检索了截至2020年5月15日的电子数据库（PubMed、EMBASE、Web of Science、中国知网、万方数据及中国生物医学文献服务系统（SinoMed））及其他来源（bioRxiv预印本平台、相关文献与综述的参考文献列表），筛选出对比偏头痛患者与健康对照（Healthy Controls, HCs）间脑区皮层厚度差异的研究。本次研究采用基于种子点的d映射结合被试图像置换法（Seed-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images）开展基于坐标的元分析。最终纳入16项研究，共包含17个符合元分析纳入标准的数据集。该17个数据集共纳入872例偏头痛患者（平均样本量51.3，平均年龄39.6岁，女性721例）及949例健康对照（平均样本量59.3，平均年龄44.2岁，女性680例）。本次基于坐标的元分析未检测到偏头痛患者相较于健康对照存在具有统计学显著性的皮层厚度改变一致性结果。敏感性分析与亚组分析验证了该结果的稳健性。元回归（metaregression）分析显示，该元分析结果并未受到年龄、性别、有无先兆、每月发作频率及病程等因素的混杂影响。本项基于坐标的元分析进一步佐证了神经影像学研究中日益受到关注的可重复性危机。诸多潜在混杂因素，如样本量不足、患者入组标准异质性、影像采集与分析方法差异等，可能是导致偏头痛皮层厚度改变研究结果不一致的原因，这一点在规划后续相关研究前值得高度重视。