Jul 5, 2024 06:10 PM
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-pathw...-migraines
EXCERPT: "We identify a communication pathway between the central and peripheral nervous system that might explain the relationship between migrainous aura and headache," University of Copenhagen biologist Martin Kaag Rasmussen and colleagues explain in their published paper.
In a series of real-time imaging experiments, the researchers traced the flow of CSF from the visual cortex of the brain, the most common site of migraine aura, to the trigeminal ganglion in mice.
The fluid rapidly entered the root of the trigeminal ganglion, which further dissections showed lacks a tightly wrapped sheath that bars dissolved molecules from penetrating the trigeminal nerves any further along their spindly bodies.
What's more, molecules dissolved in the CSF from one hemisphere of the cortex flowed primarily to the trigeminal ganglion on the same side of the head, which could explain why migraines tend to be one-sided.
Rasmussen and colleagues also found the contents of the animals' CSF were altered after an aura; it contained CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) and other molecules released from the cortex after a wave of abnormal brain activity passed through, with those molecules activating trigeminal ganglion nerves.
"Our observations indicate that the trigeminal CSF uptake drives the immediate migraine headache," Rasmussen and colleagues write. However, "we also found that CSF composition quickly normalizes, suggesting that other processes might drive headache at later phases." (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: "We identify a communication pathway between the central and peripheral nervous system that might explain the relationship between migrainous aura and headache," University of Copenhagen biologist Martin Kaag Rasmussen and colleagues explain in their published paper.
In a series of real-time imaging experiments, the researchers traced the flow of CSF from the visual cortex of the brain, the most common site of migraine aura, to the trigeminal ganglion in mice.
The fluid rapidly entered the root of the trigeminal ganglion, which further dissections showed lacks a tightly wrapped sheath that bars dissolved molecules from penetrating the trigeminal nerves any further along their spindly bodies.
What's more, molecules dissolved in the CSF from one hemisphere of the cortex flowed primarily to the trigeminal ganglion on the same side of the head, which could explain why migraines tend to be one-sided.
Rasmussen and colleagues also found the contents of the animals' CSF were altered after an aura; it contained CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) and other molecules released from the cortex after a wave of abnormal brain activity passed through, with those molecules activating trigeminal ganglion nerves.
"Our observations indicate that the trigeminal CSF uptake drives the immediate migraine headache," Rasmussen and colleagues write. However, "we also found that CSF composition quickly normalizes, suggesting that other processes might drive headache at later phases." (MORE - missing details)