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Updated: Jul 5, 2026
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3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
Attack frequency and disease duration as indicators for brain damage in migraine
Nicole Schmitz1, Faiza Admiraal-Behloul, Enrico B Arkink
1Department of Radiology, Leiden Universtity Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Headache
|May 16, 2008
Summary
Migraine patients show brain damage in the frontal lobes, brainstem, and cerebellum. Higher attack frequency and longer disease duration indicate more severe brain abnormalities in migraine.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neurology
- Brain Anatomy
Background:
- Migraine is increasingly viewed as a progressive brain disease.
- Previous studies linked white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in migraineurs to increased attack frequency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively identify brain damage sites in migraineurs using morphometric and diffusion MRI.
- To determine if migraine attack frequency and history predict brain abnormalities.
Main Methods:
- Utilized high-resolution T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted MRI on 28 migraine patients.
- Employed optimized voxel-based morphometry to assess gray and white matter density.
- Analyzed fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) differences.
Main Results:
- Identified predilection sites for brain abnormalities in the frontal lobes, brainstem, and cerebellum.
- Demonstrated that both attack frequency and disease duration are indicators of brain damage in migraine.
- Quantitatively assessed morphometric and diffusion differences compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- This study provides an unbiased, quantitative assessment of morphological brain abnormalities in migraine.
- Findings suggest potential indicators for migraine as a progressive neurological condition.
- Further longitudinal neuroimaging studies are needed to understand the causes and consequences of brain changes in migraine.
