Migraine Sufferers Have Different Brains
Researchers have identified specific differences in the brains of migraine sufferers linked to the processing of sensory information, including pain.
In earlier research, Harvard Medical School investigators used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show structural differences between the brains of people with and without migraines.
Specifically, the imaging showed thickening in a specific area of the brain related to the communication of sensory processing called the somatosensory cortex (SSC).
Migraines and the Brain
In the newly reported imaging study, researchers compared the brains of 24 people with migraines and 12 people without them. They found that the SSC was an average of 21% thicker in migraine sufferers. The thickness changes were especially pronounced in the part of the SSC related to sensation of the head and face.
Other studies have also shown differences in cortex thickness in patients with multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
But it is also possible that the structural changes precede migraines and actually cause them to occur.
Imaging studies on young children who are at high risk for having migraines later in life because their mother or father had them may also help answer the question of which comes first.
For more information, visit medicinenet.com
In earlier research, Harvard Medical School investigators used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show structural differences between the brains of people with and without migraines.
Specifically, the imaging showed thickening in a specific area of the brain related to the communication of sensory processing called the somatosensory cortex (SSC).
Migraines and the Brain
In the newly reported imaging study, researchers compared the brains of 24 people with migraines and 12 people without them. They found that the SSC was an average of 21% thicker in migraine sufferers. The thickness changes were especially pronounced in the part of the SSC related to sensation of the head and face.
Other studies have also shown differences in cortex thickness in patients with multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
But it is also possible that the structural changes precede migraines and actually cause them to occur.
Imaging studies on young children who are at high risk for having migraines later in life because their mother or father had them may also help answer the question of which comes first.
For more information, visit medicinenet.com
Labels: Migraines
posted by Ron King at 12:24 PM
