Central and peripheral processes in headache

Migraine is an extremely incapacitating collection of neurological symptoms that usually includes a severe, throbbing, recurring pain on one side of the head. The World Health Organization ranks migraine as the third most prevalent disease and the seventh commonest primary pain condition in the world. Trigeminovascular-mediated central sensitization has been implicated in the development of migraine symptoms including pain following light touch. This review explores the activation and sensitization of the brain systems that have emerged from recent studies and that contribute to migraine.

A number of pathophysiological mechanisms have been implicated in the development of migraine and other primary headache disorders. Neuroimaging techniques used to identify both structural and functional features of the brain in migraineurs have helped identify brain regions that are active during or in between migraine attacks, with particular emphasis on those areas relevant to pain pathways, including the hypothalamus and periaqueductal grey.

Several key studies have helped address the long-standing debate over whether migraine originates from vascular or neuronal dysfunction and now support that migraine is a neurological disorder. However, a complete understanding of the central nervous system dysfunction underlying this condition has yet to be elucidated.