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Time-dependent post-imperative negative variation indicates adaptation and problem solving in migraine patients

  • Basic Neurosciences, Genetics and Immunology - Original Article
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Abstract

According to the Seligman theory of learned helplessness, depression is caused by a repetitive experience of loss of control resulting in internal, stable and global attributional styles for negative events. In depressed patients and healthy controls experiencing such events, an increased amplitude of the post-imperative negative variation (PINV) has been described. The aim of the study was to investigate a possible correlation between migraine, depression, learned helplessness and PINV. 24 patients suffering from migraine without aura and 24 healthy controls were exposed to a situation of loss of control whilst the contingent negative variation (CNV) from C3, C4 and Cz were recorded. Before conducting the experiment, the subjects were asked to answer the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the German attributional style questionnaire (GASQ). Amplitudes of total CNV, early and late component and PINV were calculated in eight blocks of four recordings each. The results confirm findings of a pronounced PINV in situations of loss of control, though high amplitudes were not correlated with low values in the GASQ and therefore with learned helplessness. High PINV in migraine patients correlated with high scores in the BDI and the list of the complaints questionnaire. However, this was not the case in healthy controls. In this experimental situation, PINV in migraine patients can be interpreted as an expectancy potential in order to avoid failure and helplessness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, University of Rostock, Gehlsheimer Straße 20, 18147, Rostock, Germany

    Peter Kropp & Dietmar Schröder

  2. Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Ines-Beatrice Brecht, Uwe Niederberger & Wolf-Dieter Gerber

  3. German Armed Forces Hospital, Research Center of Psychotraumatology, Scharnhorststr. 3, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    Jens Kowalski

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Johannes Thome

  5. College of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Johannes Thome

  6. Queen Mary University of London, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK

    Wolfgang Meyer

  7. MEDAS Ostschweiz, Interdisciplinary Medicine, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Thomas-Martin Wallasch

  8. Department of Hematology, Oncology, Palliative Care, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Inken Hilgendorf

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  1. Peter Kropp
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  2. Ines-Beatrice Brecht
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  3. Uwe Niederberger
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  4. Jens Kowalski
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  7. Wolfgang Meyer
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  9. Inken Hilgendorf
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  10. Wolf-Dieter Gerber
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Correspondence to Peter Kropp.

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Kropp, P., Brecht, IB., Niederberger, U. et al. Time-dependent post-imperative negative variation indicates adaptation and problem solving in migraine patients. J Neural Transm 119, 1213–1221 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-012-0843-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-012-0843-6

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