VISUAL TESTS TO INVESTIGATE ALTERED CORTICAL FUNCTION IN MIGRAINE
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$293,062.00
Summary
Migraine is a very common and disabling neurological condition that often involves visual symptoms. This project will study vision in people who experience migraine, to determine whether brain function is altered by a migraine event or in between migraines. Understanding the visual consequences of migraine provides insight to the neural processes causing migraine, and also those underlying less common but more sinister outcomes of migraine such as stroke and peripheral vision loss.
Association Screen Of High Priority Positional Candidate Genes For Migraine
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$187,521.00
Summary
Typical migraine, is a frequent, debilitating and painful disorder that normally affects people during their most productive years (25% of females and 7.5% of males). The World Health Organization recently identified migraine among the world's top 20 leading causes of disability, with an impact that extends far beyond the suffering individual, to the family and community. Although migraine is highly prevalent in our society, its aetiology remains relatively obscure and there are no laboratory ba ....Typical migraine, is a frequent, debilitating and painful disorder that normally affects people during their most productive years (25% of females and 7.5% of males). The World Health Organization recently identified migraine among the world's top 20 leading causes of disability, with an impact that extends far beyond the suffering individual, to the family and community. Although migraine is highly prevalent in our society, its aetiology remains relatively obscure and there are no laboratory based diagnostic tests that identify those who suffer from the disorder. Twin studies indicate that migraine has a significant genetic component, with heritability estimates of 33-65%. Therefore, in an effort to identify the molecular mechanisms underlying the disorder, we have been looking for genomic regions co-inherited (linked) with migraine. The resulting genome-wide linkage scan involving 756 Australian families found significant evidence for the presence of a novel migraine gene on chromosome 5q21 and highly suggestive evidence for a gene on chromosome 10q22. Importantly, we recently replicated linkage to the 5q21 and 10q22 regions in an independent collection of Australian migraine families. Consequently, these regions hold great promise for identifying migraine susceptibility genes in our sample. Using a bioinformatics computer-assisted search of public databases we have ranked the potential candidature of the genes within the 5q21 and 10q22 regions This project will screen the top 21 candidate genes in 768 cases and 768 controls highly selected for the presence and absence of familial migraine, respectively. Our proposed association screen of high priority genes in two strongly implicated regions has high power to identify genes underlying common migraine susceptibility. Such genes will provide clues to the further elucidation of the complex molecular pathways of migraine and , finally, will help in the development of diagnostic tests and rational treatment strategies.Read moreRead less
Interaction Between Symptoms Of Brainstem Disturbance, Sensory Disturbances And Pain In Migraine
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$165,509.00
Summary
Migraine affects about 18% of women and 6% of men across their lifespan and usually peaks during the most productive years of life. Although serious neurological effects of migraine are rare, some sufferers are left with permanent physical disability after attacks of migraine-related stroke. More common are debilitating side effects of medication, and the psychological and social disruption of experiencing recurrent attacks of migraine. Apart from the pain and distress experienced during migrain ....Migraine affects about 18% of women and 6% of men across their lifespan and usually peaks during the most productive years of life. Although serious neurological effects of migraine are rare, some sufferers are left with permanent physical disability after attacks of migraine-related stroke. More common are debilitating side effects of medication, and the psychological and social disruption of experiencing recurrent attacks of migraine. Apart from the pain and distress experienced during migraine, recurrent headaches are responsible for considerable health care costs and lost productivity. Thus, there are important economic and social reasons for developing new treatments, particularly treatments that reduce susceptibility to recurrent attacks. This project aims to investigate interactions among symptoms of migraine (head pain, nausea, and changes in facial blood flow), so that the sequence of symptom development can be studied systematically. We will induce motion sickness (which provokes nausea and many other symptoms of migraine), and then study the effects of head pain and strong sensory stimulation. We expect that migraine sufferers will report stronger symptoms and show greater physiological changes to these stimuli, either alone or in combination, than people who rarely suffer from headache. One of the most commonly recognized triggers of migraine is psychological stress. The aim of the second part of this project is to determine whether a substance released during stress (noradrenaline) heightens inflammation in scalp blood vessels, thus increasing the likelihood of migraine. We hope that this approach will help to identify the basis of the abnormality which increases susceptibility to migraine, so that it can be targeted for treatment.Read moreRead less
Behavioural Management Of The Triggers Of Recurrent Headache: Avoidance Versus Coping
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$503,233.00
Summary
The traditional approach to headache management is to advise that the best way to prevent headaches is to avoid the trigger factors. This approach has never been systematically evaluated, however, and it may lead to headache sufferers losing tolerance for the factors that could precipitate a headache. This study will be the first to evaluate the traditional approach, and will also evaluate an innovative approach that includes techniques designed to desensitise people to headache triggers.
Acquisition And Extinction Of Headache-eliciting Properties Of Trigger Factors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$91,082.00
Summary
Standard advice in the clinical management of headaches is to counsel headache sufferers to avoid any factors that could trigger a headache. There is a compelling logic to this approach but is there a danger that it amounts to being over-protective in the sense that it encourages headache sufferers to 'cocoon' themselves from situations that could give rise to headaches, ultimately resulting in them losing their ability to cope with such situations. Certainly, avoiding situations that elicit anx ....Standard advice in the clinical management of headaches is to counsel headache sufferers to avoid any factors that could trigger a headache. There is a compelling logic to this approach but is there a danger that it amounts to being over-protective in the sense that it encourages headache sufferers to 'cocoon' themselves from situations that could give rise to headaches, ultimately resulting in them losing their ability to cope with such situations. Certainly, avoiding situations that elicit anxiety leads to a sensitisation process whereby the situations elicit greater anxiety. And the converse is true, exposure to anxiety-eliciting situations results in a desensitisation process whereby the situations elicit less anxiety. Whether avoidance or exposure is more appropriate in the management of headache disorders depends on the processes by which sensitivity to trigger factors is gained and lost. Two studies will be completed that test different models of these processes. The expected outcome of these studies is that they will support the theory that stimuli acquire the capacity to elicit headaches as a function of individuals trying to avoid or escape from any factor that they believe could trigger a headache. This sensitisation process can be reversed by prolonged exposure to headache trigger factors. Such results would suggest that the established practice of counselling headache sufferers to avoid triggers is counterproductive as it may lead to a reduction of headaches in the short-term but may also lead to an insidious sensitisation process that ultimately results in an increase in headaches. Given that headaches are so common and associated with such high direct and indirect costs, changes in clinical management arising from these findings could have major benefits to individuals, families and society.Read moreRead less