Information Processing in Migraine: A Review of Studies on P300

Subjective cognitive dysfunction is common among migraineurs. The aim of this review is to evaluate the usefulness of psychophysiology by means of the P300 component of the event-related potential in the understanding of subtle and sub-clinical changes in cognition that may occur during and between migraine episodes. Some P300 studies suggest a potential impairment of information processing, as reflected by only few findings of interictal decreased amplitude and prolonged latency, ictal augmented amplitude and prolonged latency, changes in cognitive habituation, and limited capacity to relocate attention away from painful stimuli. P300 may represent a valuable aid for clinicians to identify patients at risk of chronicization and cognitive weakening due to neurovascular complications; in this perspective a research agenda may be planned involving larger numbers of patients undergoing psychophysiological studies.