Neuroimaging of migraine

Abstract

Neuroimaging of migraine recently has provided us with further information regarding the pathophysiology of the disorder and posed important questions as to whether migraine is a progressive disorder. This article provides the background of imaging in migraine and discusses recent advances in the field.

Occipital nerve stimulation for the treatment of intractable chronic migraine headache: ONSTIM feasibility study

“…Moreover, clinical experience whereby occipital nerve injections have been used in the management of both migraine (28,29) and cluster headache (30,31) reinforce the potential for treatment of these disorders by manipulation of the nerve. Functional imaging work has demonstrated changes in thalamic activation with ONS in CM (7), without change in the underlying brainstem activation (32), suggesting a neuromodulatory mechanism for this potential therapy.…”

What has functional neuroimaging done for primary headache … and for the clinical neurologist?

“…For brevity we will provide a synthesis of the main results showing how functional neuroimaging has advanced our understanding on primary headache pathophysiology rather than to give a detailed résumé of every published study. There are several comprehensive reviews which focus on single entities of primary headache, such as migraine 3,12 or cluster headache, 13 that interested readers might consult for more detailed accounts of the syndromes.…”

“…Since these disorders are today regarded as disorders of the brain, 2 functional neuroimaging offers much in terms of understanding the systems physiological dysfunction that characterizes primary headache syndromes. 3 In headache, clinicians are crucial since without proper clinical phenotyping even the most sophisticated imaging studies merely create a muddle; here we explore what functional imaging may offer back to clinicians and ultimately patients.…”

Cortical modulation of thalamic function during cortical spreading depression- Unraveling a new central mechanism involved in migraine aura"

“…The thalamus is a key structure in migraine pathophysiology[1]. Direct cortico-thalamic connections provide important interactions on both cortical and thalamic structures[2].…”