Evaluation of Visual Evoked Potential in Migraine Individuals

Background: Migraine is a multifactorial brain disorder characterized by recurrent disabling attacks of a headache. The migraine patients have visual disturbances during the attack as well as during the interictal period. In addition, even between attacks some aspects of cortical dysfunction are peculiar in migraineurs. Aim: This study aims for knowing the pathogenesis of migraine in between attacks that lead to migraine disorder. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted by evaluating the visual evoked potential of 30 migraine patients during the headache-free period and compared with 30 normal persons. The results were interpreted and statistically analyzed. Results: There was statistically significant increase in amplitude of P100 wave of the migraine patients due to deficient habituation after a period of 15 min stimulation. In normal subjects, there was a decrease in amplitude of P100 wave due to the effect of habituation. The deficient habituation can be due to decreased serotonin levels leading to reduced pre-activation of the cortex. Conclusion: The migraine patients has attributed to abnormal cortical processing in migraine with interictal hyperactivity leading to heightened responsiveness and lack of habituation and lack of intracortical inhibition.