MRI reveals never-before-seen gaps in migraine patients’ brains

Although they are common and can have severe debilitating effects, the exact cause of migraine is still a mystery. A new study has shed important new light on the subject, using the latest imaging technology to gain a new perspective on structures in the brain, revealing enlarged areas around blood vessels in people suffering from the condition.

The research focuses on what are known as perivascular spaces, which are spaces around blood vessels that help clear fluids from the brain. Enlargement of these spaces has previously been associated with small vessel disease.

With 7T MRI, the differences in the brains of migraine patients and healthy people were examined.

Researchers sought to explore the relationship between enlarged perivascular spaces and migraine. To do this, the team selected five healthy people and 10 people with episodic migraine without tingling and visual impairment, that is, without aura. An advanced imaging technology called 7T MRI was then used to compare small differences in their brains.

Wilson Xu, of the University of Southern California, said: “To our knowledge, this is the first study to use ultra-high resolution MRI to examine microvascular changes in the brain due to migraine, particularly in the perivascular areas. Because 7T MRI can produce brain images with much higher resolution and higher quality than other types of MRI. can be used to show the much smaller changes that occur in brain tissue after a migraine.” said.

The picture above shows the change between a migraine patient and a healthy person. The researchers say this change, which displays cerebral microhemorrhages with enlarged perivascular spaces in the centrum semiovale region of the brain, could prove useful in future migraine diagnoses.

Scientists have many questions to answer here. One of them is whether these changes occur as a result of migraine or whether the condition is related to the development of migraine. The researchers hope to unravel these mysteries by conducting larger studies on more diverse cohorts over longer time periods.