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Pain Perception and Migraine

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Neurophysiology of the Migraine Brain

Part of the book series: Headache ((HEAD))

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Abstract

Sensory thresholds seem to be altered during a migraine attack. Hypersensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and allodynia often accompany the headache pain. Sensory alterations may even be present in-between headaches. Pain perception can be quantified by neurophysiological psychophysical tests. Many studies have measured pain perception in migraineurs, but study designs have varied considerably. A recent meta-analysis showed lower pressure and heat pain thresholds and higher suprathreshold cold pain ratings in migraineurs between attacks compared to controls. However, the meta-analysis and several of the previous studies did not account for the periodicity of migraine. Recent longitudinal studies have shown cycling patterns of pain perception with low thresholds during headache that rises after the headache, before gradually descending toward the next attack. These shifts in pain perception show that the central mechanisms involved in the evolution of a migraine attack may be started well before the headache pain emerges.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Martin Uglem

  2. Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

    Martin Uglem

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  1. Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Latina, Roma, Italy

    Gianluca Coppola

  2. Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Wei-Ta Chen

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Uglem, M. (2021). Pain Perception and Migraine. In: Coppola, G., Chen, WT. (eds) Neurophysiology of the Migraine Brain. Headache. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56538-1_11

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