Attenuated alpha oscillation and hyperresponsiveness reveals impaired perceptual learning in migraineurs

Abstract

Background Anomalous phantom visual perceptions coupled to an aversion and discomfort to some visual patterns (especially grating in mid-range spatial frequency) have been associated with the hyperresponsiveness in migraine patients. Previous literature has found fluctuations of alpha oscillation (8-14 Hz) over the visual cortex to be associated with the gating of the visual stream. In the current study, we examined whether alpha activity was differentially modulated in migraineurs in anticipation of an upcoming stimulus as well as post-stimulus periods. Methods We used EEG to examine the brain activity in a group of 28 migraineurs (17 with aura /11 without) and 29 non-migraineurs and compared their alpha power in the pre/post-stimulus period relative to the onset of stripped gratings. Results Overall, we found that migraineurs had significantly less alpha power prior to the onset of the stimulus relative to controls. Moreover, migraineurs had significantly greater post-stimulus alpha suppression (i.e event-related desynchronization) induced by the grating in 3 cycles per degree at the 2nd half of the experiment. Conclusions These findings, taken together, provide strong support for the presence of the hyperresponsiveness of the visual cortex of migraine sufferers. We speculate that it could be the consequence of impaired perceptual learning driven by the dysfunction of GABAergic inhibitory mechanism.

Application of EEG in migraine

“…Another study included 28 migraine patients (17 with aura/11 without) and 29 non-migraine patients and compared the power of alpha during and before and after the visual stimulus and found that in migraineurs before stimulus onset, alpha power was significantly reduced relative to controls, indicating that migraine patients have alpha defects in the prophase of visual stimulation. Given that alpha activity is related to functional inhibition of the sensory cortex, the present study is consistent with the notion that migraine patients have a hyperresponsive visual cortex (Fong et al, 2022).…”

“…Changes in EEG frequency bands have been commonly observed. Compared with healthy controls, the main alpha band abnormalities found were the slowing and asymmetry of the dominant frequency (Nyrke et al, 1990;de Tommaso et al, 1998;O'Hare et al, 2018), different brain region alpha increases or decreases in activity (Clemens et al, 2008;Bjork et al, 2009a;Ojha and Panda, 2022), alpha oscillatory fluctuations, particularly on tasks relying on temporal integration (O'Hare et al, 2018), visual stimuli (Fong et al, 2022), and noxious/nonnoxious stress (Rainero et al, 2001), etc. Some studies have shown different changes in low-frequency power (e.g., delta and theta frequency bands) (Bjork et al, 2009a(Bjork et al, , 2011bOjha and Panda, 2022) ADDIN.…”

Early effect of onabotulinumtoxinA on EEG‐based functional connectivity in patients with chronic migraine: A pilot study

“…50,51 The α rhythm is related to functional inhibition of the sensory cortex and might represent the GABAergic inhibitory feedback paced by neocortical or thalamic rhythm generators. 52 Thus, we observed a disrupted FC in the α band that is consistent with a cortical hyper-responsivity typically found in migraine 14,53 as an expression of an underlying "thalamocortical dysrhythmia," 54 in which a deficient thalamocortical drive leads to a dysfunction of both inhibitory and excitatory cortical neurons. 55 Furthermore, some studies supported the hypothesis that α-FC disruption is related to the involvement of ascending and/or cortical cholinergic systems in neurodegenerative disorders.…”

Excitation-Inhibition Imbalance in Migraine: From Neurotransmitters to Brain Oscillations

“…Therefore, an excessive alpha desynchronisation could lead to an increased amplification of sensory signals that, in turn, could cause the visual disorders subjectively reported by patients. A recent work reinforces this interpretation [69], as it showed that migraine patients have both significantly lower alpha power before stimulus presentation than controls, and significantly higher alpha desynchronisation after the stimulus onset.…”

“…There is also evidence for differences in the synchronization of activity in the alpha band between a mixed migraine group (MO and MA) and controls during visual stimulation. Fong et al [ 69 ] demonstrated that migraineurs had significantly less posterior alpha power prior to the onset of the stimulus relative to controls. Moreover, migraineurs had significantly greater poststimulus alpha desynchronisation.…”