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Published on: November 1, 2024
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Migraine as a visceral pain
Pietro Cortelli1, Pasquale Montagna
1Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche, Center for the Study of Headaches, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, Via Ugo Foscolo, 7, 40123, Bologna, Italy. pietro.cortelli@unibo.it
Summary
Migraine attacks may be genetically determined, adaptive responses to a threatened brain, manifesting as sickness behavior. This view reframes migraine as a conserved, evolutionarily beneficial reaction to stressors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Migraine is a brain dysfunction involving pain and passive coping, resembling sickness behavior.
- The brain lacks pain fibers; pain signals originate from the trigemino-vascular system.
- Sickness behavior is a conserved mammalian response to stressors, involving withdrawal, lethargy, and pain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To postulate that migraine is a genetically determined behavioral response.
- To propose that sickness behavior characterizes migraine attacks as an adaptive response.
- To offer a new perspective on migraine as a biobehavioral response to brain threats.
Main Methods:
- This study is primarily theoretical, postulating a hypothesis.
- It involves analyzing the characteristics of sickness behavior and its relation to migraine.
- It draws upon evolutionary biology and neuroscience concepts.
Main Results:
- Migraine attacks are hypothesized to be manifestations of sickness behavior.
- Sickness behavior in migraine involves withdrawal, motor quiescence, and lethargy.
- Visceral pain during migraine may signal brain homeostatic imbalance.
Conclusions:
- Migraine may be an adaptive, genetically programmed response to brain stressors.
- This hypothesis offers a coherent view of migraine as a biobehavioral phenomenon.
- Understanding migraine as sickness behavior could inform future research and treatments.
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