The exact cause of migraines remains a scientific and medical mystery, although they are common and can have debilitating effects. A new study sheds light on an important aspect of migraine by making use of the latest imaging technology to gain a new perspective on structures in the brain, which revealed enlarged areas around blood vessels in people with migraines.
According to what was published by the “New Atlas” website. New AtlasCiting EurekAlert, the new research focuses on what are known as perivascular spaces, which are gaps around blood vessels that help remove fluid from the brain. Larger spaces of the vacuoles have been linked to microvascular disease, which can lead to other consequences such as inflammation and abnormalities in the shape and size of the blood-brain barrier.
MRI of a migraine patient
Advanced technology
The researchers used an advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique, called 7T MRI, to explore the relationship between enlarged spaces around blood vessels and migraines by comparing small differences in the brains of study participants.
Researcher Wilson Zhou, of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, said: [تقنية] 7T MRI is able to create images of the brain with much higher resolution and better quality than other types of MRI, and can be used to show small changes that occur in brain tissue after a migraine.”
Micro cerebral hemorrhage
Zhou added that among the changes that occur after a migraine is the occurrence of microcerebral hemorrhage, as well as the enlargement of the perivascular spaces in the subacute middle region of the brain, noting that it had not previously been observed that “there are significant changes in the perivascular spaces.” in a brain region called the centrum semovale.
Professor Zhou added that there are still many questions for scientists to answer regarding the new discovery, and whether these changes occur as a result of migraine, or if the condition itself presents itself as a migraine.
New treatment
The team of researchers in the study, the results of which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America next week, hypothesize that the differences in the perivascular spaces may be indicative of a disorder in the glymphatic system, which works with the perivascular spaces to remove waste from the brain.
The researchers hope to solve these mysteries through larger studies in more diverse groups, over longer time frames, which could “eventually aid in the development of new, personalized ways to diagnose and treat migraine.”