Typical migraine with aura is a complex primary headache with highly variable clinical manifestation, including visual, somatosensory and dysphasic symptoms. Visual auras are ranging from simple visual phenomena, such as flashes of bright light or zig-zag lines, to more complex disturbances of visual perception. Similar to visual phenomena, somatosensory symptoms can be ranging from simple tingling sensations on one hand to more complex manifestations such as dyspraxia. Also, various manifestations of dysphasia and disturbances of memory are present in the aura phase of the attack. Some patients have only simple auras during migraine attacks, while some patients have combinations of attacks with only simple symptoms and attacks with simple and complex symptoms and in a minority of cases some patients always report complex auras, yet they all are classified in the same category.
Currently, there is no difference in the treatment of patients who suffer from only visual disturbances during the aura phase and those who report additional somatosensory symptoms or even higher cortical dysfunctions. This is due to a lack of understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms that allow migraineurs' brains to develop heterogeneous phenotypes. However, recent neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies have highlighted that people suffering from complex migraine with aura differ from people who only report visual auras that precede the headache phase. Moreover, a recently developed migraine aura complexity score (MACS) shows that people with more complex aura tend to have thicker cerebral cortex in various sites which may be affected by cortical spreading depolarization/depression. Thus, potential genetic, biochemical, electrophysiological and neuroimaging markers for subtype classification could significantly advance individualized treatment and enable new therapeutic strategies. Also, the relationship between the complexity of migraine aura and other migraine phases could reveal a new piece of the puzzle in the complex pathophysiology of migraine.
The aim of this Research Topic is to explore potential markers for subtype characterization of typical migraine with aura and to further investigate the differences between clinical subtypes and the relevance of the aura complexity on the treatment outcome. We welcome submissions of Original Research and Review papers, as well as interesting Case Reports that investigate the pathophysiology of typical migraine with aura by using multimodal techniques.
Typical migraine with aura is a complex primary headache with highly variable clinical manifestation, including visual, somatosensory and dysphasic symptoms. Visual auras are ranging from simple visual phenomena, such as flashes of bright light or zig-zag lines, to more complex disturbances of visual perception. Similar to visual phenomena, somatosensory symptoms can be ranging from simple tingling sensations on one hand to more complex manifestations such as dyspraxia. Also, various manifestations of dysphasia and disturbances of memory are present in the aura phase of the attack. Some patients have only simple auras during migraine attacks, while some patients have combinations of attacks with only simple symptoms and attacks with simple and complex symptoms and in a minority of cases some patients always report complex auras, yet they all are classified in the same category.
Currently, there is no difference in the treatment of patients who suffer from only visual disturbances during the aura phase and those who report additional somatosensory symptoms or even higher cortical dysfunctions. This is due to a lack of understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms that allow migraineurs' brains to develop heterogeneous phenotypes. However, recent neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies have highlighted that people suffering from complex migraine with aura differ from people who only report visual auras that precede the headache phase. Moreover, a recently developed migraine aura complexity score (MACS) shows that people with more complex aura tend to have thicker cerebral cortex in various sites which may be affected by cortical spreading depolarization/depression. Thus, potential genetic, biochemical, electrophysiological and neuroimaging markers for subtype classification could significantly advance individualized treatment and enable new therapeutic strategies. Also, the relationship between the complexity of migraine aura and other migraine phases could reveal a new piece of the puzzle in the complex pathophysiology of migraine.
The aim of this Research Topic is to explore potential markers for subtype characterization of typical migraine with aura and to further investigate the differences between clinical subtypes and the relevance of the aura complexity on the treatment outcome. We welcome submissions of Original Research and Review papers, as well as interesting Case Reports that investigate the pathophysiology of typical migraine with aura by using multimodal techniques.
