A new electronic diary tool for mapping and tracking spatial and temporal head pain patterns in migraine.

Aim: We present an electronic tool for collecting data on the patterns of migraine headache onset and progression.

Methods: A digitized map consisting of 44 color-coded segments was defined based on previous reports of migraine pain and the distribution of nerves in the face, head and neck. The map was overlaid on a schematic map of the face, head and neck nerves.

Central changes associated with chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis.

Background: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a significant public health problem with 1 million affected women in the UK. Although many pathologies are associated with CPP, the pain experienced is often disproportionate to the extent of disease identified and frequently no pathology is found (chronic pelvic pain syndrome). The central nervous system (CNS) is central to the experience of pain and chronic pain conditions in general are associated with alterations in both the structure and function of the CNS.

Peripheral changes in endometriosis-associated pain.

Background: Pain remains the cardinal symptom of endometriosis. However, to date, the underlying mechanisms are still only poorly understood. Increasing evidence points towards a close interaction between peripheral nerves, the peritoneal environment and the central nervous system in pain generation and processing.

Pain response measured with arterial spin labeling.

The majority of functional MRI studies of pain processing in the brain use the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) imaging approach. However, the BOLD signal is complex as it depends on simultaneous changes in blood flow, vascular volume and oxygen metabolism. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion imaging is another imaging approach in which the magnetically labeled arterial water is used as an endogenous tracer that allows for direct measurement of cerebral blood flow.

Her versus his migraine: multiple sex differences in brain function and structure.

Migraine is twice as common in females as in males, but the mechanisms behind this difference are still poorly understood. We used high-field magnetic resonance imaging in male and female age-matched interictal (migraine free) migraineurs and matched healthy controls to determine alterations in brain structure. Female migraineurs had thicker posterior insula and precuneus cortices compared with male migraineurs and healthy controls of both sexes.

Common hippocampal structural and functional changes in migraine.

The hippocampus is classically involved in memory consolidation, spatial navigation and is involved in the stress response. Migraine is an episodic disorder characterized by intermittent attacks with a number of physiological and emotional stressors associated with or provoking each attack. Given that migraine attacks can be viewed as repeated stressors, alterations in hippocampal function and structure may play an important role in migraine pathophysiology.

Concurrent functional and structural cortical alterations in migraine.

Aim: Various animal and human studies have contributed to the idea of cortical structural-functional alterations in migraine. Defining concurrent cortical alterations may provide specific insights into the unfolding adaptive or maladaptive changes taking place in cortex in migraine.

Methods: From a group of 60 episodic migraineurs, 20 were recruited to the study.

Migraine attacks the Basal Ganglia.

Background: With time, episodes of migraine headache afflict patients with increased frequency, longer duration and more intense pain. While episodic migraine may be defined as 1-14 attacks per month, there are no clear-cut phases defined, and those patients with low frequency may progress to high frequency episodic migraine and the latter may progress into chronic daily headache (> 15 attacks per month). The pathophysiology of this progression is completely unknown.