HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wang, W. Articles by Schoenen, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wang, W. Articles by Schoenen, J.

Intensity dependence of auditory evoked potentials is pronounced in migraine

An indication of cortical potentiation and low serotonergic neurotransmission?

Department of Neurology, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium (Dr. Wang) (Dr. Schoenen)
Department of Applied Cognitive Psychophysiology, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. (Dr. Timsit-Berthier)

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Jean Schoenen, University Department of Neurology, CHR Citadelle, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.

Migraine is associated with stimulus hypersensitivity, increased evoked cortical responses, and abnormal 5-HT levels in peripheral blood. We studied cortical auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) between attacks in 35 patients suffering from migraine without aura (MO, n = 25) or with aura (MA, n = 10) and in 25 healthy volunteers. Binaural tones were delivered at 40, 50, 60, and 70 dB sensation level (SL) in a pseudorandomized order. The intensity dependence of the auditory Nl-P2 component was significantly greater in MO (p = 0.003) and MA (p = 0.02) patients than in healthy controls, resulting in a much steeper amplitudeistimulus intensity function slope. When three sequential blocks of 40 averaged responses were analyzed at the 40- and 70-dB SL intensities, N1–P2 amplitude decreased in second and third blocks at both intensities in controls, but increased in migraineurs, a difference that was significant in both blocks for the 70-dB SL stimulus. The strong interictal dependence of AEPs on stimulus intensity may thus be due to potentiation (instead of habituation) of the response during repetition of the high-intensity stimulation. In concordance with previous studies of visual evoked potentials, these results confirm that migraine is characterized between attacks by an abnormality of cortical information processing, which might be a consequence of low 5-HT transmission and favor cortical energy demands.

Supported by a grant from the Research Fund of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Liège. Jean Schoenen is Research Director at the National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium.

Presented in part at the 47th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Seattle, Washington, May 1995.

Received June 23, 1995. Accepted in final form August 21, 1995.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Sakai, C. Dobson, M. Diksic, M. Aube, and E. Hamel Sumatriptan normalizes the migraine attack-related increase in brain serotonin synthesis Neurology, February 5, 2008; 70(6): 431 - 439. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Di Clemente, G. Coppola, D. Magis, A. Fumal, V. De Pasqua, V. Di Piero, and J. Schoenen Interictal habituation deficit of the nociceptive blink reflex: an endophenotypic marker for presymptomatic migraine? Brain, March 1, 2007; 130(3): 765 - 770. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Lang, M. Kaltenhauser, B. Neundorfer, and S. Seidler Hyperexcitability of the primary somatosensory cortex in migraine--a magnetoencephalographic study Brain, November 1, 2004; 127(11): 2459 - 2469. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Ambrosini, P. Rossi, V. De Pasqua, F. Pierelli, and J. Schoenen Lack of habituation causes high intensity dependence of auditory evoked cortical potentials in migraine Brain, September 1, 2003; 126(9): 2009 - 2015. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Bohotin, A. Fumal, M Vandenheede, P. Gerard, C. Bohotin, A. Maertens de Noordhout, and J. Schoenen Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on visual evoked potentials in migraine Brain, April 1, 2002; 125(4): 912 - 922. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. J. Shepherd Increased visual after-effects following pattern adaptation in migraine: a lack of intracortical excitation? Brain, November 1, 2001; 124(11): 2310 - 2318. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Ambrosini, A. Maertens de Noordhout, and J. Schoenen Neuromuscular transmission in migraine: A single-fiber EMG study in clinical subgroups Neurology, April 24, 2001; 56(8): 1038 - 1043. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. M Khalil, N. J Legg, and D. J Anderson Long term decline of P100 amplitude in migraine with aura J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, October 1, 2000; 69(4): 507 - 511. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]