Capsaicin failed in suppressing cortical processing of CO2 laser pain in migraine patients

The aim of this study was to compare the properties of the nociceptive system in eight migraine without aura patients in the pain-free phase with 10 healthy controls, by evaluating the topography and the source of the CO2 laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) obtained by the right supraorbital skin, during and after capsaicin topical application. In healthy subjects the acute cutaneous pain induced by capsaicin reduced the amplitude of the vertex LEPs and induced a posterior shifting of the P2 wave dipolar source within the anterior cingulate cortex. These functional changes seemed significantly reduced in migraine patients, for a disturbed pattern of pain modulation at the cortical level, which may subtend the onset and persistence of migraine.