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The role of the visual system in migraine: an update

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Abstract

The visual system plays a prominent role in migraine headache, especially migraine with aura. Anatomical and functional studies in migraine are showing an increasing role linking the visual system to migraine and its multiple and complex clinical expressions. Recent research on photophobia highlights the progress of our understanding of these relationships. This review overviews a practicing neurologist’s view of some of the roles of the visual system in migraine and how a clinical understanding of this relationship is enhanced by recent research and discovery in this in this important area.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to two colleagues and neurophthalmogists, Dr. Debrorah I. Friedman and Dr. Charles E. Maxner for their helpful assistance in directing me to some of the pertinent literature on this complex subject.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that there is no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    R. Allan Purdy

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  1. R. Allan Purdy
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Correspondence to R. Allan Purdy.

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Purdy, R.A. The role of the visual system in migraine: an update. Neurol Sci 32 (Suppl 1), 89–93 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0541-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0541-4

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