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EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MIGRAINES, BLOOD FLOW, AND OCULOMOTOR DYSFUNCTION

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Migraines are a neurovascular disorder that causes extreme headaches, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and sometimes aura. The purpose of this study is to assess how migraines, with and without visual aura, affect blood flow in the brain as well as oculomotor controls. METHODS: Participants who were healthy (H, N=13), and had migraines without aura (MO, n=14), and migraines with auras (MA, n=13) ( completed two trials of oculomotor tests while simultaneously recording oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin levels through an fNIRS system. The fNIRS data was filtered with a lowpass filter of 0.1 and obtained through Oxysoft. Visual motor control, including horizontal, vertical, and circular smooth pursuit, was assessed with a RightEye system. An univariate analysis (p<.05) was conducted to examine differences between groups for both fNIR and eye data. RESULTS: There were no significant findings in the frontal lobes between groups. However, the right and left temporal lobes showed a significant difference in total hemoglobin (mg/dL) between the H and the MA group (p = .0045,). There was no difference between the MO and MA groups in the temporal lobes. Significant difference in efficiency error (≥7 mm off from the target location) in both the vertical and circular smooth pursuit between the H and MA groups (p = 0.034; p = 0.012, respectively).CONCLUSIONS: People who suffer from migraines with aura presented decreased efficiency in 2 out of the 5 oculomotor tasks when compared to a healthy group as well, and a group of migraine suffers with no aura. Additionally, the MA group presented decreased blood flow in the temporal regions of the brain when compared to the other groups.

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