As if the damn headache wasn ’ t bad enough …

This study was particularly compelling because of the methods used to document the physical consequences of a migraine episode. The University of Rochester scientist Maiken Nedergard and her colleagues used a 2-photon microscope to actually visualize the synapses on cortical pyramidal cells, through the time course of the “headache”. She must have been stunned by first witnessing the large-scale chaos generated by the migraine sequelae, because the spines (synapses) of cortical neurons swelled and then disintegrated right before her eyes IN VERY LARGE NUMBERS. Some cortical neurons lost the MAJORITY of their synaptic inputs via these tiny, slow-motion ‘explosions’! So: a) you have a headache, b) you blow up your synapses, and c) slowly, headache-by-headache, you suffer progressively greater memory and other cognitive losses. Once again, it’s a clear case of that Mother, Nature just piling on — as if the migraine sufferer didn’t have ENOUGH to worry about! This is not an altogether surprising result; we have known for some time that individuals who suffer from repeated migraines are subject to slow, progressive cognitive deterioration. We also know that repeated headaches put an individual at higher risk for stroke. It would seem likely that a history of this recurrent source of diffuse brain injury is just another of that sizable list of neurological vicissitudes that contribute to an accelerated functional decline in aging, and to an...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Aging and the Brain Alzheimer’s Brain Fitness Brain Fitness Program BrainHQ InSight Language Development Posit Science Source Type: blogs