On the utility of the trail making test in migraine with and without aura: a meta-analysis.

This meta-analytical review assesses the utility of the Trail Making Test (TMT), versions A and B, in detecting migraine-related cognitive deficits. A comprehensive literature search was performed in two electronic databases and other sources to obtain relevant studies administering TMT to migraine patients. Search terms included "migraine" and "Trail Making". Only studies in which the TMT-A, TMT-B or both were administered to adult patients suffering from migraine with and without aura were included. All pooled meta-analyses were based on random effects models. A total of 14 studies for TMT-A and 15 for TMT-B met inclusion criteria and were subjected to meta-analyses. Results showed that performance is worse in migraine patients than in controls for both the TMT-A (Hedges' g = -.28) and TMT-B (g = -.37), with no difference between migraine with and without aura. This study demonstrates the sensitivity of the TMT in detecting cognitive alterations in migraine. This test should be considered for inclusion in cognitive batteries assessing patients with migraine.

Anger and impulsiveness in migraine patients with and without aura.

Background and purpose: Migraine is a common primary headache disorder triggered by internal or external stimuli. Impulsitivity and anger are associated with many neurological and psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the anger and impulsivity in migraine patients with or without aura.Methods: A total of 55 patients aged between 18 and 55, who were diagnosed with episodic migraine (31 with aura and 24 without aura) and 40 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study.Migraine diagnosis and classification were based on criteria from the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (beta version). Multidimensional Anger Scale and Barratt Impulsivity Scale-11 were administered to the patient and control groups.Results:Migraine patients with aura, migraine patients without aura and control groups were compared, anger symptoms were significantly higher in migraine patients with aura (p < 0.001), but between these groups there was no significant difference in terms of impulsivity (p = 0.711).Conclusions: It was found that anger symptoms were more common in migraine patients with aura compared to migraine patients without aura and control group, but in impulsitivity there was no difference between groups.Further studies in future investigating the relation between migraine with aura and anger may pave the way for different and more specified treatment approach.

Relating excitatory and inhibitory neurochemicals to visual perception: A magnetic resonance study of occipital cortex between migraine events.

Certain perceptual measures have been proposed as indirect assays of brain neurochemical status in people with migraine. One such measure is binocular rivalry, however, previous studies have not measured rivalry characteristics and brain neurochemistry together in people with migraine. This study compared spectroscopy-measured levels of GABA and Glx (glutamine and glutamate complex) in visual cortex between 16 people with migraine and 16 non-headache controls, and assessed whether the concentration of these neurochemicals explains, at least partially, inter-individual variability in binocular rivalry perceptual measures. Mean Glx level was significantly reduced in migraineurs relative to controls, whereas mean occipital GABA levels were similar between groups. Neither GABA levels, nor Glx levels correlated with rivalry percept duration. Our results thus suggest that the previously suggested relationship between rivalry percept duration and GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmitter concentration in visual cortex is not strong enough to enable rivalry percept duration to be reliably assumed to be a surrogate for GABA concentration, at least in the context of healthy individuals and those that experience migraine.

Premonitory Symptoms in Episodic and Chronic Migraine From a Pediatric Headache Clinic.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the frequency of six commonly reported adult migraine premonitory symptoms in children and adolescents with episodic and chronic migraine and elicited psychological or behavioral comorbidities that may be associated with these symptoms. BACKGROUND: Premonitory symptoms are commonly reported in the adult migraine population; however, little information is available for the pediatric population. METHODS: Data were collected on new patients being evaluated in our multidisciplinary pediatric headache clinic over a six-month time interval. The data collected from patients diagnosed with migraine were then reviewed for the following premonitory symptoms: yawning, neck stiffness, fatigue, increased urination, mood changes, and food cravings. History was obtained regarding the frequency of headaches and other associated behavioral or psychological problems. RESULTS: A total of 176 patients were enrolled over a six-month interval, ranging in age from four to 18 years (mean age 12 years); 64% were female, and 42% (74 of 176) of the subjects had at least one premonitory symptom. Patients with migraine with aura were noted to have a significantly higher association with premonitory symptoms (59%, 30 of 51) (P < 0.05). Anxiety disorder was also significantly associated with premonitory symptoms (55%, 11 of 20) (P < 0.05). Fatigue and mood changes were the most commonly reported premonitory symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Premonitory symptoms occurred frequently in our population of pediatric patients with migraine. Fatigue and mood changes were the most frequent symptoms. There were no significant differences in premonitory symptoms by gender or age group (less than 12 years versus greater than 12 years). Anxiety and migraine with aura were correlated with an increased likelihood of premonitory symptoms.

Familial Hemiplegic Migraines and Baseline Neuropsychological Testing: A Case Report.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the neuropsychological correlates and implications of familial hemiplegic migraines (FHMs). BACKGROUND: FMH is a rare, autosomal dominant subtype of migraine that only occurs in 0.01% of the population. Little is known about the neuropsychological impact of FHMs; however, cognitive impairment associated with cerebellar syndrome has been identified in some cases. METHOD: A single case study involving a 24-year-old male who recently endured an atypical, prolonged FHM episode. RESULTS: The patient's overall neuropsychological functioning was intact with low average semantic fluency and processing speed, and mild indications of executive dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Baseline and serial neuropsychological testing in individuals with FHM may help identify the potential progression and course of cognitive impairment associated with this condition.

Auditory Processing in Children with Migraine: A Controlled Study.

Background This study aimed to investigate central auditory processing performance in children with migraine and compared with controls without headache. Methods Twenty-eight children of both sexes, aged between 8 and 12 years, diagnosed with migraine with and without aura, and a control group of the same age range and with no headache history, were included. Gaps-in-noise (GIN), duration pattern test (DPT), synthetic sentence identification (SSI) test, and nonverbal dichotic test (NVDT) were used to assess central auditory processing performance. Results Children with migraine performed significantly worse in DPT, SSI test, and NVDT when compared with controls without headache; however, no significant differences were found in the GIN test. Conclusions Children with migraine demonstrate impairment in the physiologic mechanism of temporal processing and selective auditory attention. In our short communication, migraine could be related to impaired central auditory processing in children.

Oliver Sacks and migraine.

Background Oliver Sacks (1933-2015) published a large number of books on a variety of neurological topics. Of these, numerous copies have been sold and they probably serve as the only or main source of information on neurological diseases for many persons without a medical background. His first book was on migraine and in his subsequent books many descriptions of migraine can be found, mainly those of auras. Methods We explored the descriptions of migraine in Sacks' work in order to evaluate the image of migraine offered to the readers. Conclusion Oliver Sacks gave wonderful descriptions of migraine auras, but hardly any of migraine headache. Furthermore, he described rare auras such as 'amusia' and olfactory auras. Overall, this makes his descriptions of migraine not very useful to serve as medical information for laypersons. Oliver Sacks, however, wrote great literature.

Prevalence of lifetime depression in a large hemiplegic migraine cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of depression and determinants associated with depression in a large population of hemiplegic migraine (HM) patients. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, validated questionnaire study among 89 well-defined HM patients and 235 headache-free controls. The prevalence of lifetime depression and its relation to migraine characteristics was assessed. RESULTS: HM patients had increased odds for lifetime depression (odds ratio 3.73, 95% confidence interval 2.18-6.38) compared with controls. Use of acute antimigraine medication was associated with lifetime depression. CONCLUSIONS: Depression is part of the monogenic hemiplegic migraine phenotype. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathophysiologic role of HM genes in comorbid depression. For now, clinicians should take comorbid depression into consideration when starting prophylactic treatment of HM.

Autonomic impairment in patients with migraine.

OBJECTIVE: Heart rate variability analysis of electrocardiogram is becoming an increasingly common method to non-invasively evaluate autonomic nervous function. The aim of the study was to investigate cardiac autonomic function in subjects with and without migraine by using 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic recordings. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated 27 subjects with migraine (10 with migraine with aura and 17 without aura) during headache free periods and 10 age-matched healthy control subjects. The migraine was diagnosed using the International Classification of Headache Disorders 2nd Edition criteria. Beck Depression and Beck Anxiety Inventory forms were completed by all subjects. Time and frequency-domain of HRV was analyzed for two periods: diurnal and nocturnal. RESULTS: We found an increased frequency of anxiety and depressive symptoms in migraine patients, especially in migraine with aura group. The heart rate variability parameters SDNN, RMSSD, high frequency were decreased and low frequency was increased in migraine patients during night period compared with normal subjects, most affected were migraine with aura patients. During day period we found modification for SDNN, RMSSD and high frequency parameters only in migraine with aura group. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced parasympathetic activity with sympathetic predominance was found in migraine patients during the night period, most affected being migraine with aura patients.

Migraine in Synesthetes and Nonsynesthetes: A Prevalence Study.

Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which an inducer stimulus in one sense leads to a concurrent percept in a second sense. The immune hypothesis of synesthesia links synesthesia to immune-related conditions such as migraine. More specifically, migraine with aura may be linked to grapheme-color synesthesia as both involve cortical hyperexcitability. In this study, 161 female synesthetes, and 92 female nonsynesthetes, completed an online questionnaire about synesthesia and migraine. We found no general link between migraine and synesthesia nor between migraine with aura and grapheme-color synesthesia. Exploratory analyses, however, showed that certain types of synesthetic inducer (non-linguistic visual experiences, scent, taste, emotion and personality) were associated with visual disturbances in headache among female participants, and touch as a concurrent was associated with migraine with aura. On the basis of our exploratory analyses, we hypothesize that specific subtypes of synesthesia are related to migraine. The relationship between these two conditions is likely to become clearer as research on the underlying causes of synesthesia and migraine progresses.

Rasgos de personalidad en migraña crónica: estudio categorial y dimensional en una serie de 30 pacientes / Personality traits in patients with chronic migraine: a categorial and dimensional study in a series of 30 patients

Introducción. El papel patogénico de la personalidad en la migraña no está definido. Para su estudio se pueden utilizar instrumentos de medida dimensional o categorial, sin que haya tampoco acuerdo acerca del abordaje más adecuado. Objetivo. Analizar la personalidad de pacientes con migraña crónica desde el punto de vista dimensional y categorial. Pacientes y métodos. Como test categorial utilizamos el cuestionario Salamanca, y, como dimensional, el Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Evaluamos trastornos del ánimo con la escala de ansiedad y depresión hospitalaria y el impacto de la migraña mediante el Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6). Resultados. Incluimos 30 pacientes (26 mujeres), con una edad media de 40,7 ± 9,6 años. Un caso (3,3%) presentaba criterios de depresión, y 4 (13,3%), de ansiedad. En el test Salamanca, los rasgos de personalidad más frecuentes fueron los integrados en el cluster C: anancástico (n = 28; 93,3%), ansioso (n = 18; 60%) y dependiente (n = 7; 23,3%). En el MMPI-2, 16 pacientes (53,3%) cumplían criterios de hipocondría; 7 (23,3%), de depresión, y 10 (33,3%), de histeria, rasgos integrados en la tríada neurótica. Se objetivó una configuración denominada ‘conversiva V’. No hallamos correlación entre los rasgos de personalidad y el tiempo de migraña crónica, la intensidad medida por el HIT-6 o el uso excesivo de medicación sintomática. Conclusiones. En el análisis de la personalidad en la migraña crónica destaca, desde el punto de vista dimensional, el neuroticismo, y respecto al categorial, el rasgo obsesivo-compulsivo o anancástico. Es necesario el estudio de series más extensas y la comparación con pacientes con migraña episódica y población control (AU)

Introduction. The pathogenic role of personality in migraine has not yet been defined. It can be studied by means of dimensional or categorial measurement instruments, although there is no agreement as to the most suitable approach in this respect either. Aim. To analyse the personality of patients with chronic migraine from the dimensional and categorial point of view. Patients and methods. We used the Salamanca questionnaire as our categorial test and, as the dimensional test, we employed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Mood disorders were evaluated with the hospital anxiety and depression scale and the impact of migraine was determined by means of the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6). Results. We included 30 patients (26 females), with a mean age of 40.7 ± 9.6 years. One case (3.3%) presented criteria for depression and four (13.3%) for anxiety. In the Salamanca test, the most common personality traits were those included within cluster C: anankastic (n = 28; 93.3%), anxious (n = 18; 60%) and dependent (n = 7; 23.3%). On the MMPI-2, 16 patients (53.3%) fulfilled criteria for hypochondria; 7 (23.3%) for depression; and 10 (33.3%) for hysteria, which are traits included within the neurotic triad. A pattern called ‘conversion V’ was observed. No correlation was found between the personality traits and the length of time with chronic migraine, the intensity measured by HIT-6 or the excessive use of symptomatic medication. Conclusions. In the analysis of the personality in chronic migraine, what stood out from the dimensional point of view was neuroticism and as regards the categorial perspective, the obsessive-compulsive or anankastic trait was the most salient. More extensive series need to be conducted, together with comparisons with episodic migraine and population control (AU)

Prevalence and clinical features associated to bipolar disorder-migraine comorbidity: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence and clinical features associated with bipolar disorders (BDs)-migraine comorbidity have been reported inconsistently across different studies, therefore warranting a systematic review on the matter. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement searching major electronic databases for documents indexed between January, 2000 and July, 2014. Eligible studies were those including quantitative data on prevalence rates and clinical features associated to BD-migraine comorbidity; case reports excluded. Three authors independently conducted searches, quality assessment of the studies and data extraction. RESULTS: Several cross-sectional studies, and a handful of retrospective follow-up studies or non-systematic reviews assessed the prevalence and/or the clinical correlates of migraine-BD comorbidity. High prevalence rates and a significant burden of BD-migraine comorbidity were common findings, particularly in case of BD-II women (point-prevalence rates up to 77%), migraine with aura (up to 53%) and/or cyclothymic temperament (up to 45% of the cases). LIMITATIONS: Some of the biases encountered in a few studies accounted by the present review may nonetheless have hampered the generalizability of the overall conclusions drawn herein. CONCLUSIONS: BD-migraine comorbidity may comprise of a sub-phenotype of BDs requiring patient-tailored therapeutic interventions to achieve an optimal outcome. Specifically, additional studies including longitudinal follow-up studies are aimed in order to shed further light on the actual prevalence rates and clinical features associated to BD-migraine comorbidity, with a special emphasis towards the clinically suggestive potential connection between mixed features, bipolar depression, migraine, and increased risk for suicidality. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42014009335.

Late-life migraine accompaniments: A narrative review.

BACKGROUND: Migraine is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders. In 1980, C. Miller Fisher described late-life migraine accompaniments as transient neurological episodes in older individuals that mimic transient ischemic attacks. There has not been an update on the underlying nature and etiology of late-life migraine accompanimentsd since the original description. PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive and extensive review of the late-life migraine accompaniments including the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, differential diagnosis, and treatment. METHODS: Literature searches were performed in MEDLINE®, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE databases for publications from 1941 to July 2014. The search terms "Migraine accompaniments," "Late life migraine," "Migraine with aura," "Typical aura without headache," "Migraine equivalents," "Acephalic migraine," "Elderly migraine," and "Transient neurological episodes" were used. CONCLUSION: Late-life onset of migraine with aura is not rare in clinical practice and can occur without headache, especially in elderly individuals. Visual symptoms are the most common presentation, followed respectively by sensory, aphasic, and motor symptoms. Gradual evolution, the march of transient neurological deficits over several minutes and serial progression from one symptom to another in succession are typical clinical features for late-life migraine accompaniments. Transient neurological disturbances in migraine aura can mimic other serious conditions and can be easily misdiagnosed. Careful clinical correlation and appropriate investigations are essential to exclude secondary causes. Treatments are limited and still inconsistent.

Cortical spreading depression: origins and paths as inferred from the sequence of events during migraine aura.

Patients with migraine with aura often experience a variety of visual and somatosensory phenomena and disturbances of higher cortical functions. Analysis of these alterations may provide important information about the involvement of different cortical regions in cortical spreading depression (CSD). We report five cases of migraineurs who experience unusually abundant clinical phenomena during auras. These patients were selected from a cohort of migraine with aura patients who were interviewed, using a specially designed questionnaire, to evaluate the presence of higher cortical dysfunctions. On the basis of the aura symptoms they reported, we attempted to infer the origin and the possible paths of CSD in each patient. According to their reported symptoms, CSD could begin in the primary visual cortex, in the primary somatosensory cortex or simultaneously in both, and propagate to the posterior parietal cortex, the temporal lobe and Broca's area. We believe that clinical descriptions of aura could play an important role in further investigations of the pathophysiology of migraine.

Higher burden of migraine compared to other neurological conditions: results from a cross-sectional study.

Headache disorders are prevalent, burdensome and costly. However, it is difficult to get an idea of how much of a burden do they cause if they are not compared with other conditions. Using data from PARADISE project, we compared 80 migraineurs and 80 patients similar for age, gender and work condition. Our results showed that the amount of psycho-social difficulties was higher among patients with migraine than among patients with epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease.

Migraine trait symptoms in migraine with and without aura.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine whether various transient sensory and neuropsychological symptoms (SNS) were associated with migraine using a custom questionnaire. METHODS: In this hypothesis-generating case-control study, the frequencies of transient SNS in 219 patients with migraine (149 without aura and 70 with aura) were compared with 161 age- and sex-matched healthy controls using a custom questionnaire. Patients from a tertiary academic headache center in Hamburg were contacted by regular mail. Healthy controls without a history of migraine were recruited by means of a screening questionnaire and consecutively approached by e-mail. RESULTS: The presence of both migraine and aura was associated with significantly higher frequencies of autokinesis, metamorphopsia, dyschromatopsia, cinematographic vision, illusionary visual spread, and synesthesia (for all comparisons: corrected p < 0.05). Double vision, inverted 2- and 3-dimensional vision, and altered perception of body weight and size were found more often in patients with migraine without aura than in those with aura. In contrast, aura was associated with the occurrence of visual splitting and corona phenomenon (for all comparisons: corrected p < 0.05). No relevant association with migraine was found for micropsia and macropsia, teleopsia and pelopsia, inverted vision, out-of-body experience, Doppelgänger phenomenon, complex visual hallucinations, and altered perception of body position in space. CONCLUSIONS: The observed SNS seem to belong to a physiologic spectrum of multisensory phenomena. Some of these phenomena were significantly accentuated in patients with migraine and may therefore be termed migraine trait symptoms. However, these results will have to be confirmed in a prospective study with face-to-face interviews.

Psychiatric comorbidity of chronic daily headache: focus on traumatic experiences in childhood, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidality.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM-5) reclassified some mental disorders recently. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is in a new section termed "trauma- and stressor-related disorder". Community-based studies have shown that PTSD is associated with a notably high suicidal risk. In addition to previous findings of comorbidity between chronic daily headache (CDH) and both depressive disorders and anxiety disorders, recent data suggest that frequency of childhood maltreatment, PTSD, and suicidality are also increased in CDH. CDH patients with migraine aura are especially at risk of suicidal ideation. Research suggests that migraine attack, aura, frequency, and chronicity may all be related to serotonergic dysfunction. Vulnerability to PTSD and suicidality are also linked to brain serotonin function, including polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR). In the present review, we focus on recent advances in knowledge of traumatic experiences in childhood, PTSD, and suicidality in relation to migraine and CDH. We hypothesize that vulnerability to PTSD is associated with migraine attack, migraine aura, and CDH. We further postulate that these associations may explain some of the elevated suicidal risks among patients with migraine, migraine aura, and/or CDH. Field studies are required to support these hypotheses.

Executive dysfunctions in migraine with and without aura: what is the role of white matter lesions?

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Executive dysfunctions and white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging have been reported in migraine. The aim of this study was to determine whether any correlation between these 2 variables exists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four subjects affected by migraine with or without aura were compared with 16 healthy subjects. A battery of neuropsychological tests assessing executive functions was administered to all subjects. Number and total volume of white matter lesions were assessed in the whole brain and in the frontal lobe. RESULTS: The performances of both groups of migraineurs, with and without aura, were significantly worse when compared with controls on Boston Scanning Test. Moreover, we found lower performances compared with controls respectively on Frontal Assessment Battery in patients with migraine with aura and on Controlled Oral Word Association Test in patients with migraine without aura. Nineteen patients (43.2%) and one control subject (6.2%) had white matter lesions. We did not find any significant correlation between white matter lesions load and neuropsychological performances. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of our results, white matter lesions load on magnetic resonance imaging do not seem to contribute to neuropsychological performances deficit in migraineurs.

Alice in Wonderland syndrome as aura of migraine.

Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS), named for Lewis Carroll's titular character, is a disorder characterized by transient episodes of visual hallucinations and perceptual distortions, during which objects or body parts are perceived as altered in various ways (metamorphopsia), including enlargement (macropsia) or reduction (micropsia) in the perceived size of a form. Migraine aura is a transient neurological symptom that most commonly involves the visual fields and occurs before the headache phase. Aura symptoms include the perception of flashing lights that begin in the center of vision and expand in jagged patterns out into the periphery. Symptoms may be somatosensory, such as numbness and tingling in the lips or fingers. They may also involve a profound alteration of the perception of space and time (the "Alice in Wonderland" syndrome). In this article, we present a child had Alice in Wonderland syndrome as aura of migraine.