Mysterious Changes Identified in The Brains of People Who Get Migraines

A new clue may help solve the mystery of the migraines.

Researchers found that patients with chronic and episodic migraines have larger perivascular spaces than other patients.

The finding could represent an as-yet unexplored avenue for future research.

The discovery was presented at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting.

There are changes in the brain region called the centrum semiovale that occur in people with chronic migraines.

Changes have never been reported before.

It is hell to live with migraines. Although it's well known that it causes headaches, it can also cause other problems such as nausea, dizziness, and visual impairment. In many cases, the condition is unresponsive to treatment, and it's not known what causes it.

10 percent of the world's population is affected by the condition. It would improve the lives of millions if there was a cause.

The centrum semiovale, the central region of brain white matter directly below the cerebral cortex, was a topic of interest to the group. The function of these spaces is not fully understood and they do play a role in fluid movement drainage.

There's a fluid clearance system in the brain. Understanding how they contribute to migraines could help us.

He and his colleagues recruited 20 patients who were between the ages of 25 and 60 years old. 5 patients who don't experience headaches were included as a control group.

Patients with cognitive impairment, claustrophobia, and brain tumors were ruled out by the team. They used an ultra-high-field magnetic resonance machine to conduct the scans. Magnets up to 3 tesla are required for most hospital scanning machines.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study using ultra-high-resolution MRI to study microvascular changes in the brain due to migraines."

It can be used to show smaller changes in brain tissue after a migraines because of the higher resolution and better quality of 7TMRI.

Compared to the control group, the perivascular spaces in the centrum semiovale of patients with migraines were larger.

There was a difference in the distribution of white matter hyperintensities in people with migraines. These are caused by small patches of dead or partially dead tissue that have been deprived of blood.

There was no difference in the severity of the attacks between the patients and the patients who were unaffected.

The researchers think that the enlargement of perivascular spaces could lead to the development of more white matter problems.

The results suggest that a problem with the brain's plumbing is what leads to migraines. It uses perivenous channels for transportation.

There is more work to be done, but it is promising.

The results of our study could help inspire future, larger-scale studies to continue investigating how changes in the brain's tiny vessels and blood supply contribute to different types of headaches.

This could help us develop new ways to diagnose and treat migraines.

The research was presented at the annual meeting of the radiological society of North America.