What does a virtual roller coaster ride tell us about migraine?

Date:
July 23, 2021
Source:
American Academy of Neurology
Summary:
When experiencing the ups and downs of a virtual roller coaster
ride, people who get migraine headaches reported more dizziness
and motion sickness than people who do not get migraines, according
to a new study.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
When experiencing the ups and downs of a virtual roller coaster ride,
people who get migraine headaches reported more dizziness and motion
sickness than people who do not get migraines, according to a new study published in the July 7, 2021, online issue of Neurology, the medical
journal of the American Academy of Neurology.


========================================================================== Researchers also found that people who get migraines also had more
nerve cell activity in certain areas of the brain during the virtual
roller coaster ride and less activity in other areas. Researchers said
this abnormal processing of the visual motion stimuli in the brain was
linked to migraine disability and more susceptibility to motion sickness.

"Millions of people regularly experience painful and debilitating migraine headaches that can reduce their quality of life," said study author
Arne May, MD, PhD, of the University of Hamburg in Germany. "People with migraine often complain of dizziness, balance problems and misperception
of their body's place in space during migraine. By simulating a virtual
roller coaster ride, our study found that some of these problems are
not only magnified in people who experience migraine, but they are also associated with changes in various areas of the brain. By identifying
and pinpointing these changes, our research could lead to a better understanding of migraine which could in turn lead to the development of
better treatments." The study involved 20 people with migraine who were compared to 20 people without migraine. Participants had an average age
of 30 and more than 80% were women. People with migraine had an average
of four migraines per month.

Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take
brain scans of each participant as they watched videos to experience the virtual roller coaster rides. No participants experienced a migraine
during the virtual rides. After the virtual rides, participants were
surveyed about their perceived levels of dizziness, motion sickness and
other symptoms.

Researchers found that 65% of people with migraine experienced dizziness compared to 30% of people without migraine. On a questionnaire about
motion sickness, which scored symptom intensity on a scale of 1-180,
those with migraine had an average score of 47 compared to an average
score of 24 for people without migraine. People with migraine also
experienced symptoms longer, an average of 1 minute and 19 seconds
compared to an average of 27 seconds.

Their symptoms were also more intense.

From the brain scans, researchers were able to identify changes in nerve
cell activity based on blood flow to certain areas of the brain. People
with migraine had increased activity in five areas of the brain, including
two areas in the occipital gyrus, the visual processing area of the
brain, and decreased activity in two other areas including the middle
frontal gyrus. These brain changes correlated with migraine disability
and motion sickness scores.

"One other area of the brain where we found pronounced nerve cell activity
in people with migraine was within the pontine nuclei, which helps
regulate movement and other motor activity," said May. "This increased
activity could relate to abnormal transmission of visual, auditory and
sensory information within the brain. Future research should now look
at larger groups of people with migraine to see if our findings can
be confirmed." The study was supported by the German Research Foundation.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Academy_of_Neurology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Gabriela Carvalho, Jan Mehnert, Hauke Basedau, Kerstin Luedtke,
Arne May.

Brain Processing of a Visual Self-Motion Study in
Patients With Migraine: An fMRI Study. Neurology, 2021;
10.1212/WNL.0000000000012443 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000012443 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210723131218.htm

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