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3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
Frontal lobe structure and executive function in migraine patients
Nicole Schmitz1, Enrico B Arkink, Marieke Mulder
1Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Albinusdreef 2, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Neuroscience Letters
|June 17, 2008
Summary
Migraine patients exhibit reduced frontal and parietal brain matter density, correlating with slower executive function, specifically in cognitive set-shifting tasks. These brain structure changes may explain cognitive deficits in migraineurs.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Neuroimaging studies indicate frontal lobe abnormalities in individuals with migraine.
- Cognitive impairments, particularly in executive function and working memory, are noted in migraineurs.
- The link between migraine-related brain anatomy and cognitive function remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the simultaneous relationship between cerebral cortex structure and executive function (EF) in migraine patients and healthy controls.
- To assess grey matter (GM) density and executive function performance in adult migraineurs compared to controls.
Main Methods:
- Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to analyze grey matter (GM) density in 25 adult migraine patients and matched controls.
- Assessed executive function (EF) using three tasks from the Maudsley attention and response suppression (MARS) battery.
Main Results:
- Migraineurs displayed significantly decreased frontal and parietal lobe grey matter (GM) density compared to control subjects.
- Patients with migraine showed slower response times in tasks involving cognitive set-shifting.
- A significant correlation was observed between delayed response times in set-shifting and reduced frontal lobe GM density among migraineurs.
Conclusions:
- Structural abnormalities in the frontal and parietal lobes may underlie the observed executive function deficits, specifically slower cognitive set-shifting, in migraine patients.
- Findings suggest a neuroanatomical basis for cognitive impairments in migraine.
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