SYNOPSIS The results of the study support the findings that vascular headache patients obtain lower MMPI scores than do muscle contraction and mixed headache patients. We suggest that this may be due to more frequent and longer pain‐free intervals. We also note a tendency for male muscle contraction headache patients to be somewhat more morally self‐righteous than the other categories, but this finding requires confirmation. Comparisons between these headache patients (all categories) and 50,000 general medical patients showed the former to obtain scores markedly greater than the latter on most scales; this also may reflect greater duration and severity of subjective distress.

SYNOPSIS Twenty‐nine female migraineurs were assigned to biofeedback and 20 to drug therapy. The average personality profile of the two groups showed neuroticism, with scores on scales 1, 2 and 3 statistically equal between the two groups. Following the therapy, neuroticism significantly improved in the clinically improved biofeedback group, but remained unchanged in clinically unimproved biofeedback and medication, as well as medication improved groups. Neuroticism thus seems to be an integral part of migraine etiology rather than a result of chronic pain. Therefore, volitional alteration of the psychophysiological background of migraineurs by biofeedback as a causative therapy should be preferred to the drugs whenever possible.

SYNOPSIS Responses of supraorbital (SA), superficial temporal (TA), and digital (F) arterial beds and the heart rate were studied in 5 normal subjects and 10 migraineurs, when their hand temperature was increased by volition and/or by heat. In normal subjects, volitional digital arterial dilation coincided with vasoconstriction in SA and TA. In migraineurs the response varied. Bradycardia resulted in most subjects except in unimproved migraineurs. Heat induced hand vasodilation led to dilation in SA and TA and to tachycardia. In those 8 migraineurs who improved clinically the finger temperature feedback training apparently did not result in conditioning of a single autonomic response (i.e. digital vasodilation), but in a general decrease of the sympathetic tonic outflow.

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