The exact cause of migraines remains a scientific and medical mystery, although they are common and can have debilitating effects. A new study sheds light on an important aspect of migraine using the latest imaging technology to gain a new perspective on brain structures, which has revealed enlarged areas around blood vessels in people with migraine.
According to what was published by the site “New Atlas”. New AtlasCiting EurekAlert, the new research focuses on what are known as perivascular spaces, which are empty spaces around blood vessels that help remove fluid from the brain. Spaces larger than vacuoles have been linked to microvascular disease, which can lead to other consequences such as inflammation and abnormalities in the shape and size of the blood-brain barrier.
MRI of a patient with migraine
Advanced technology
The researchers used an advanced MRI technique, called 7T MRI, to explore the relationship between enlarged spaces around blood vessels and migraines by comparing small differences in the brains of study participants.
Researcher Wilson Zhou, of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, said: [تقنية] 7T MRI is able to create images of the brain in much higher resolution and better quality than other types of MRI and can be used to show small changes that occur in brain tissue after a migraine.”
Cerebral microhemorrhage
Zhou added that among the changes that occur after a migraine are the occurrence of microcerebral hemorrhage, as well as the widening of perivascular spaces in the subacute middle region of the brain, noting that it had not previously been observed that “there are significant changes in the perivascular spaces.” in a region of the brain called the centrum semovale.
Professor Zhou added that there are still many questions scientists need to answer regarding the new discovery and whether these changes occur as a result of migraines or if the condition itself presents as a migraine.
New treatment
The study’s team of researchers, whose findings will be presented at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting next week, speculate that differences in the perivascular spaces may be indicative of a disorder of the glymphatic system, which works with the perivascular spaces to remove waste from the brain.
The researchers hope to solve these mysteries through larger studies in more diverse groups, over longer periods of time, which could “eventually aid in the development of new personalized ways to diagnose and treat migraine.”
