NÖROM Reveals: The Migraine-Prone Brain Cannot Filter Out “Irrelevant” Stimuli; Light and Patterns Trigger Pain

- According to NÖROM’s research, the migraine-prone brain cannot filter visual stimuli; light and visual stimuli that are normally irrelevant turn into pain

- NÖROM Director Prof. Dr. Belen: “We identified a new mechanism in the brain’s frontal region that filters out repetitive stimuli: A malfunction in this system causes visual stimuli to directly trigger pain”

- “The intensity of lighting in stores or shopping malls could be reduced; changes can be initiated here. These are important for the well-being of society”

According to a new study by the Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Excellence Joint Application and Research Center (NÖROM), the brains of individuals with migraines cannot adapt to repetitive visual stimuli. The brain, which consistently perceives these stimuli as significant, establishes a direct connection with pain mechanisms.

The study, conducted at NÖROM with contributions from researchers at Ankara University, was published in The Journal of Headache and Pain, a prestigious journal in the field of neuroscience.

NÖROM revealed, through neuroimaging studies conducted in Turkey, that migraine is not limited to headaches alone, but is closely related to visual processing and pain mechanisms in the brain.

The study found that individuals with migraine cannot develop habituation to repeated visual stimuli, and that these stimuli are continuously coded by the brain as “important.”

The study examined a total of 59 female participants, 30 of whom were migraine patients and 29 were healthy. It was found that participants exhibited different brain responses to visual stimuli even when they were not in an attack phase.

“Unlike a normal brain, a brain affected by migraine gradually intensifies its response”

Prof. Dr. Hayrunnisa Bolay Belen, a member of the General Assembly of the Higher Education Council (YÖK) and Director of NÖROM, noted that the findings of the study represent the first such findings in the literature.

“In a normal human brain, when a repetitive stimulus arrives, the brain reduces its response. But in a migraine-stricken brain, on the contrary, the response gradually increases,” said Prof. Dr. Belen, adding that it is extremely important that this increase occurs not in the back of the brain where visual processing takes place, but rather in the orbitofrontal region, the most front part of the brain and the high-level control center. Prof. Dr. Bolay Belen stated, “This is the high-level control center of vision and also the place that assigns a harmful, beneficial, or emotional value to the incoming stimulus.”

Prof. Dr. Bolay Belen explained that with this study, they have shown for the first time that repetitive stimuli cannot be filtered in the brain of migraine sufferers and are directly related to pain mechanisms:

“The problem seems to be in the system that filters out unnecessary or unimportant stimuli, and for the first time, we see that there is a place in the front part of the brain involved in this. We have proven this.”

Prof. Dr. Belen continued, stating that in the experimental phase of the study, they obtained findings from an MRI machine by giving migraine and non-migraine participants tasks similar to the problems they encounter in daily life:

“We developed an experimental model that can simulate real-life problems. We addressed the issues that most patients complain about. People say they feel very uncomfortable when driving or when they have to choose something in a shopping mall with many products reaching to the ceiling. This can also trigger sensory sensitivity or pain. We developed a paradigm to simulate this situation.”

-How can the quality of life for migraine sufferers be improved?-

Prof. Dr. Belen made the following suggestions regarding improving the quality of life for migraine sufferers:

“The brightness of lights in supermarkets or shopping malls could be reduced slightly. Migraine patients specifically mention that horizontal lines or striped patterns in the lighting there are bothersome. A change could be initiated here. These measures are important for the well-being of the entire community.”

Dr. Sertaç Üstün, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at Ankara University’s Faculty of Medicine and one of the study’s lead researchers, also highlighted the sensory processing aspect of migraine, stating, “Migraine is often thought of solely as a headache disorder, but patients report that various visual stimuli cause discomfort and are perceived in different ways.”

Postdoctoral researcher Dr. İlkem Güzel added, “We identified that lower-level visual processing regions are directly connected to the pain region. This finding provided us with an opportunity to explain why migraine patients are bothered by light.”

Doctoral student Ceren Onlat, who also participated in the research, stated that migraine sufferers frequently experience discomfort from visual stimuli such as supermarket shelves, crowded environments, or striped patterns. In this context, they noted that these stimuli were used in a laboratory setting in relation to real life, and an experimental design was developed to increase the ecological validity of the research.