Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 25, 2026
3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
Pattern-reversal visual-evoked potentials in children with migraine and other primary headache: evidence for
Rieke Oelkers-Ax1, Stephan Bender, Ulrike Just
1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Blumenstrasse 8, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany Psychiatric Department, University of Heidelberg, Voßstrass2, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
Insights
Visual processing maturation is altered in children with migraine, with delays observed in specific visual pathways. This suggests a disturbed development of visual information processing in migraineurs from childhood to adulthood.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Previous studies suggest disturbed cerebral information processing maturation in migraineurs using auditory evoked potentials.
- The developmental trajectory of visual information processing in pediatric migraine remains less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether age-dependent visual processing development is altered in children with primary headache, particularly migraine.
- To compare visual evoked potentials (VEPs) across different spatial frequencies and age groups in children with and without primary headache.
Main Methods:
- Pattern-reversal VEPs were recorded in 123 children (6-18 years) with primary headache (migraine with/without aura, tension-type headache) and 82 healthy controls.
- VEPs were analyzed at four spatial frequencies to assess magno- and parvocellular pathway involvement.
- Children were grouped into 6-11 years (early puberty) and 12-18 years (late puberty) age categories.
Main Results:
- While N80 and P100 latencies showed normal age-dependent development, N135 latency development was significantly altered in primary headache subgroups (P < 0.01).
- In controls, N135 latency reduction with age was most prominent at high spatial frequencies.
- In headache subgroups, the age-related N135 latency decline shifted towards lower spatial frequencies.
Conclusions:
- Visual evoked potential maturation, specifically N135 latency, is partly disturbed in children with migraine.
- These findings indicate an altered developmental trajectory of visual information processing in pediatric migraineurs.
Abstract:
Recently, evidence for a disturbed maturation of cerebral information processing in migraine came from studies investigating the auditory-evoked contingent negative variation and the auditory-evoked potential from childhood to adulthood. This study is to clarify whether age-dependent development is altered also for the processing of visual stimuli in migraine. Components of pattern-reversal visual-evoked potentials at four different spatial frequencies (which can preferentially activate the magno- and the parvocellular visual system) were compared between children aged 6 and 18 years with primary headache (N = 123; 67 migraine without aura, MO; 32 migraine with aura, MA; 24 tension-type headache, TH) in the headache-free interval and healthy controls (N = 82). Children were divided into two age groups: 6-11 years (pre- and early puberty) and 12-18 years (late and post-puberty). Age-dependent development was normal for N80 and P100 latency in children with primary headache, but altered for N135 latency as indicated by a significant interaction among the factors diagnosis, spatial frequency and age group (P < 0.01). In headache-free controls, N135 latency reduction between pre- and post-puberty age was most pronounced at high spatial frequency. The main 'decline' of N135 latency with increasing age was shifted to lower spatial frequencies in the headache subgroups. The results give evidence that maturation of visual processing is partly disturbed in migraineurs.
