Migraine-headache sufferers have thick brain fibers

By William Atkins
Saturday, 01 December 2007 20:11

Science - Health

Harvard researchers scanned the brains of migraine headache patients and volunteers without such headaches. They found that fibers in the brain, which relay pain signals, were thicker in migraine patients.        

Nouchine Hadjikhani, a U.S. researcher at the Harvard Medical School, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on twenty-four migraine headache patients (a group of 12 with migraines with auro (signs indicating a migraine is coming on), and a group of 12 with migraines without auro) and on twelve volunteers without migraine headaches.

According to Dr. Hadjikhani--who is an associate professor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School and an assistant in Medical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Radiology--the objective of the study was: “To examine morphologic changes in the somatosensory cortex (SSC) of patients with migraine.”

The conclusion from the experiment was that the somatosensory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sensations from the face and head, was about 21% thicker in migraine headache sufferers than people who do not get migraines.

The results, entitled “Thickening in the somatosensory cortex of patients with migraine” were published in the journal Neurology (November 2007; 69: 1990-1995). Co-authors of the study include Alexandre F. M. DaSilva, Cristina Granziera, and Josh Synder. The group is associated with the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Hadjikhani was paraphrased, in the New Scientist magazine article "Mighty migraines" (November 24, 2007, page 19): "it's becoming increasing clear that migraines are symptomatic of progressive neurological disease."