Quality of life is compromised significantly in young patients with primary headache disorders. The questionnaire used in this study is a valid and reliable self-administered instrument that may facilitate clinical research in headache.

Cognitive processing was investigated interictally in 18 children with migraine without aura and 18 age-matched controls by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) and reaction times (RTs) during an acoustic oddball paradigm. Results showed that N100 amplitude evoked by frequent stimuli was significantly smaller in patients compared with controls. Habituation of target P300 amplitude was observed in patients but not in controls. Mean RTs were equivalent in the two groups, but migraine children made more errors than controls.

The present preliminary study was aimed at investigating the electrocortical correlates of attentional allocation toward emotional stimuli in children and adolescents with migraine by means of the event-related potentials. The electroencephalogram was continuously recorded in 7 migrainous children and 8 healthy controls while they were looking at a series of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures. The mean amplitude of the Negative Central component of the event-related potentials was computed as an index of the allocation of attentional resources to the presented stimuli. Relative to controls, children with migraine displayed reduced fronto-central negativity and larger posterior positivity in response to emotional pictures. This effect was already evident, overall, in a time window preceding the Negative Central component. The smaller cortical negativity in response to emotional stimuli suggests reduced attentional engagement toward emotionally relevant stimuli, or might be interpreted in terms of advanced brain maturation in migraine children.

RIASSUNTO -Il mutismo cerebellare costituisce una rara condizione di perdita transitoria dellinguaggio verbale in giovani soggetti sottoposti ad intervento chirurgico per neoplasia cerebellare.I 3 casi da noi osservati presentano il quadro tipico del MCT che puo seguire l'exeresi chirurgica di neoplasie cerebellari. Il periodo di mutismo presenta un durata dalle 3 settimane ai 3 mesi e il recupero dellinguaggio avviene senza necessita di riabilitazione.