Cause of Migraines
Cause of Migraines: Your Brain
The brain is essentially made of billions of nerve cells called neurons – which are connected to other neurons located throughout your body. Neurons have the unique ability among all other cells of your body to receive and send information through electrochemical methods. Neurons can then be categorized by the function they perform be that receiving or sending signals to your skin, muscles, and glands, or sensing important data about your environment (light, sound, touch,) or simple moving information from one neuron to another.
The human brain can then be organized into the following basic parts:
- The brain stem- Controls functions that are meant to be automatic like the heart, digestive system, and limb movements.
- The cerebellum – Coordinates movement.
- The hypothalamus and pituitary gland – Regulates body temperature and behavioral responses like eating, drinking, sexuality, anger, and happiness.
- The cerebral cortex – The master control center which integrates all incoming information and controls all higher order functions like speech, thought, and memory.
Understanding the lower brain is crucial for all headache and migraine sufferers. The lower brain can be organized into parts that can then be further broken down into groups of neurons called nuclei that share a common specialty.
Medulla – Regulates blood pressure, breathing, and acts as the relay point for sensory information from the cranial nerves.
Pons – Involved in breathing, sleep, and taste. Relays movement and position information from the cerebellum to the cortex.
Midbrain – Links sections of the brain involved in motor functions, eye movements, and sound.
Thalamus – Regulates what sensory information reaches your awareness and also relays motor information exchange.
Hypothalamus – Controls hormonal secretions from the pituitary gland, as well as sexual reproduction, eating, drinking, growth, almost all aspects of behavior, as well as your sleep-wake cycle.
Cause of Migraines: Why Does it Hurt?
Exactly how the migraine process begins is still unclear despite advances in medical imaging. The most current theory is known as “cortical spreading depression” in which abnormal brain chemistry begins a chain of reactions ultimately affecting one’s central nervous system. It is thought that the brains of migraine sufferers are more sensitive to change and certain conditions than other people who do not experience migraines. When the brain encounters a condition it does not like it reacts by raising an alert. As a migraine sufferer, you brain appears to be more sensitive and reactive to certain conditions.
Your brain’s alert signal causes neurons to become excited and spread across your cortex. The neurons start sending messages using built in nerve pathways such as the trigeminal (located behind the ear on either side of your head and spreads in three directions – up towards your forehead, straight across to your nose, and along your jaw) and upper cervical nerves to blood vessels around the head, face, and neck, causing them to become swollen and irritated.
Chemicals are also released at this time including serotonin (levels rise then fall), dopamine (responsible for changes in mood, nausea, and fatigue,) and norepinephrine. This abnormal flow of chemicals is thought to be caused by a deficiency of magnesium and malfunctioning calcium channels. The nerves surrounding this tissue then communicate back to your brain that there is inflammation. Your brain takes tissue inflammation seriously and as such alerts you via the sensation of pain.
Additionally worth emphasizing a second time is that pain (headache) is really a symptom of the migraine process. Is it possible to have a headache and not a migraine? Yes. Is it possible to have a migraine and not a headache? Yes.
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