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(Ivanhoe Newswire) People who suffer from migraine headaches are often more sensitive to light, sound, and pain than other people.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital have now discovered evidence of this sensitive to sensory information in a certain area of the brain. In a study involving 24 people with migraines and 12 people without the headaches, they found greater thickness in the somatosensory cortex in people with migraines. On average their somatosensory cortex areas were 21 percent thicker than those in the people without migraine.
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Repeated migraine attacks may lead to, or be the result of, these structural changes in the brain, study author Nouchine Hadjikhani, M.D., was quoted as saying. Most of these people had been suffering from migraines since childhood, so the long-term overstimulation of the sensory fields in the cortex could explain these changes. Its also possible that people who develop migraines are naturally more sensitive to stimulation.
Dr. Hadjikhani notes people with migraine are more likely to suffer from other sensitivity conditions as well, such as jaw pain, back pain, and sensitive skin. This discovery could help explain why those conditions are so common in people with these debilitating headaches.
Numerous medical problems have been associated with the cortex, but often the problem lies in a thinning cortex. Multiple sclerosis and Alzheimers disease, for example, are linked to thinning. Extensive motor training and learning tends to thicken the cortex back up.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Neurology, published online Nov. 20, 2007
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