Familial history of migraine influences habituation of visual evoked potentials

Abstract

Background Lack of habituation of visual evoked potentials (VEP) is a common finding in migraine patients between attacks. Previous studies have suggested an electrophysiological familial aggregation pattern associated with migraine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of a positive familial history of migraine on VEP amplitude and habituation. Methods We recorded six blocks of 100 VEP during continuous pattern-reversal stimulation in 30 patients with migraine between attacks (MO) and in 30 healthy volunteers, of whom 15 had a first-degree relative suffering from migraine (HVm) and 15 had not (HV). Results Both MO and HVm had a significant deficit of VEP habituation and similarly reduced N1-P1 first block amplitudes, compared to HV (habituation slope: MO = 0.033, HVm = 0.021, HV = -0.025, HV vs. MO p = 0.002, HV vs. HVm p = 0.036; mean N1-P1 amplitude in the first block: MO = 9.08 µV, HVm = 9.29 µV, HV = 12.19 µV. HV vs. MO p = 0.041, HV vs. HVm p = 0.076). The first block N1-P1 amplitude was negatively correlated with the habituation slope for both MO (ρ = -.44, p = 0.015) and HVm (ρ = -.56, p = 0.031) while no significant correlation was found in HV (ρ = .17, p = 0.53). There were no differences in VEP latencies between the groups. Conclusions Our study suggests that lack of habituation of visual evoked potentials is probably a genetically determined endophenotypic trait that is associated with both migraine and migraine susceptibility. We hypothesize that genetic diversity of populations could account for some of the discrepancies between electrophysiological studies performed in migraine and for interindividual variations among the subgroups.

Fluctuations of sensorimotor processing in migraine: a controlled longitudinal study of beta event related desynchronization

“…Furthermore, healthy subjects were not screened for relatives with migraine, and a few controls might in theory be susceptible to migraine and to VEP-potentiation [57]. Moreover, in a previous sensitivity analysis the removal of controls with migraine relatives did not affect the VEP habituation results [43].…”

Migraine triggers and habituation of visual evoked potentials

“…Twenty-five migraine without aura patients (ICHD-3 beta 1.1, mean age 26.3 AE 6 years, 80% females) who underwent visual evoked potential (VEP) recordings (4) were interviewed face to face by two of the investigators (ML and ERR) about their migraine triggers. They were instructed to provide yes or no answers to a list of potential triggers drawn according to the results of a large epidemiological study (1).…”

“…None of the patients had prophylactic migraine treatment, or any other pharmacological treatment other than the contraceptive pill. A detailed description of the methodology employed for VEP acquisition and processing can be found elsewhere (4). In brief, 600 responses were recorded at Oz (reference: Fz) at temporal and spatial frequencies of 3.1 Hz and 14' respectively.…”

Desencadenantes migrañosos y habituación del potencial evocado visual. Definiendo subgrupos de pacientes

“…Twenty-five migraine without aura patients (ICHD-3 beta 1.1, mean age 26.3 +/-6 years, 80% females) who underwent (VEP) 4 recordings were interviewed face to face by two of the investigators (ML and ERR) about their migraine triggers. They were instructed to provide yes or no answers to a list of potential triggers drawn according to the results of a large epidemiological study.…”

“…3 One may thus assume that patients with different habituation profiles might differ by phenotypic features, such as attack triggers. Therefore, we analyzed the visual evoked potentials habituation (VEP) 4 profile in relation to the report of migraine triggers during a head-to-head, semi-structured interview, which preceded the neurophysiological recordings.…”