A study of hemi-field pattern reversal visual evoked potentials recorded in the interictal phase was carried out in 44 patients (22 with migraine with aura, 22 without aura) in order to determine whether migraine patients with or without aura and with headaches with strong unilateral predominance, either left or right, exhibit abnormalities after hemi-field stimulation. No differences of P100 latency were found between them and a group of 20 normal individuals, between patients suffering from migraine with aura and migraine without aura and between the affected and the non-affected side of the head. Only in a subgroup of 14 patients with headaches constantly lateralized to a single side, either left or right, was the P100 latency significantly shorter on the affected side (p < 0.001, t-test) compared with the contralateral non-affected side. The results indicate that in both types of migraine there is a common underlying pathogenetic mechanism and the affected retrochiasmatic optic radiation has an increased response to sensory input modulation.
The topographic maps of 50 patients suffering from migraine with or without aura were compared to the brain maps of 20 normal controls and 20 patients with tension-type headaches. Only the migraine group showed a significant decrement of alpha rhythm power, during rest with eyes closed, at the posterior areas of the brain, and a significant increment of alpha power at the same regions during IPS at 20 c/sec.
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