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Updated: Jul 9, 2025
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3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
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Pathophysiology of migraine aura
Margarita Sanchez Del Rio1, Fred Michael Cutrer2
1Neurology Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Madrid, Spain.
Handbook of Clinical Neurology
|December 3, 2023
Summary
Migraine aura involves temporary neurological symptoms preceding headaches. While rare forms have identified gene defects, common migraine aura genetics remain elusive, despite some genome-wide association study findings.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Genetics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Migraine aura affects one-third of migraine patients, presenting transient focal neurological symptoms.
- Auras can manifest as visual, language, sensory, or motor disturbances preceding or during headache onset.
- Cortical spreading depression is a leading theory for migraine aura pathophysiology.
Approach:
- Review of clinical features, pathophysiological theories, and genetic evidence for migraine aura.
- Examination of single gene defects linked to rare familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) subtypes (FHM1, FHM2, FHM3).
- Analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) investigating genetic susceptibility to common migraine aura.
Key Points:
- While rare FHM forms have identified causative genes (CACNA1A, ATP1A2, SCN1A), common migraine aura genetics are less understood.
- Epidemiological data suggest higher heritability for migraine with aura compared to migraine without aura.
- A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs835740 showed initial genome-wide significance for migraine with aura but requires further validation.
Conclusions:
- Understanding the genetic basis of common migraine aura remains a significant challenge.
- Further research is needed to identify specific genetic variants contributing to migraine aura susceptibility.
- Integrating clinical, pathophysiological, and genetic data is crucial for advancing migraine aura research.
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