Investigating migraine with novel MRI methods Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating changes in brain activations of the premonitory stage, postdrome stage and following migraine treatment in nitroglycerin triggered migraine using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
IRAS ID
165250
Contact name
Keith Brennan
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Migraine attacks start some time before the headache is experienced and persist after the headache has finished. We are trying to understand which areas of the brain are activated during the symptoms the patient experiences before the start of a migraine headache, such as needing to pass water more frequently, yawning and feeling thirsty (called the premonitory symptoms), as well as during the headache pain itself, and the symptoms after the pain has settled (called postdrome symptoms) like fatigue, inability to pay attention, reduced memory and increased sleepiness, using a brain scanning technique called functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). We will scan the patient throughout the course of their attack to assess which areas of the brain are active during the different stages of an attack.
Once participants consent and enrol to the study they will be stratified by a study doctor in to one of two study arms. Study Arm 1 will focus on the subjects premonitory symptoms and study arm 2 will focus on the postdrome symptoms. Subjects will undergo a series of MRI brain scans and clinical and questionnaire assessment to monitor symptoms to try to correlate clinical observations with MRI findings.
We are also interested in seeing whether we can observe changes in brain activity in response to migraine relief following administration of aspirin which is an approved treatment for migraine.
This study will help us understand the mechanisms behind the various stages of a migraine attack and help guide future work looking at treatments that may work early in the attack, before the onset of pain, to prevent pain occurring. We also hope to be able to develop new techniques for understanding the body’s response to pain and other symptoms.REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/2241
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion