What Does a Virtual Roller Coaster Ride Tell Us About Migraine?
Published:10 Sep.2022 Source:American Academy of Neurology
Researchers found that people who get migraines also had more nerve cell activity in certain areas of the brain during the virtual roller coaster ride and less activity in other areas. Researchers said this abnormal processing of the visual motion stimuli in the brain was linked to migraine disability and more susceptibility to motion sickness.
The study involved 20 people with migraine who were compared to 20 people without migraine. Participants had an average age of 30 and more than 80% were women. People with migraine had an average of four migraines per month. Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take brain scans of each participant as they watched videos to experience the virtual roller coaster rides. No participants experienced a migraine during the virtual rides. After the virtual rides, participants were surveyed about their perceived levels of dizziness, motion sickness and other symptoms. Researchers found that 65% of people with migraine experienced dizziness compared to 30% of people without migraine.
From the brain scans, researchers were able to identify changes in nerve cell activity based on blood flow to certain areas of the brain. People with migraine had increased activity in five areas of the brain, including two areas in the occipital gyrus, the visual processing area of the brain, and decreased activity in two other areas including the middle frontal gyrus. These brain changes correlated with migraine disability and motion sickness scores. "One other area of the brain where we found pronounced nerve cell activity in people with migraine was within the pontine nuclei, which helps regulate movement and other motor activity," This increased activity could relate to abnormal transmission of visual, auditory and sensory information within the brain.