Saturday, April 19, 2008

The autonomic nervous system and the regulation of arterial tone in migraine

(1) Department of Neurology, Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Nordre Ringvej 57, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark

Clinical Autonomic Research

Received: 17 March 1995 Accepted: 24 July 1995

Abnormal regulation of the large cranial arteries seems to play a significant role in the mechanisms of migraine pain. Thus, vasodilatation of extra- and intracranial conductance arteries has been described both during spontaneous migraine attacks and during experimentally provoked vascular headaches. The regulation of the diameter of these arteries is complex and involves autonomic, trigeminovascular, endothelial and humoral mechanisms. Studies concerned with the function of the autonomic nervous system in migraine suggest that a mild parasympathetic dysfunction may be present.