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Psychological treatments build on the benefits of drug therapy for severe migraine sufferers, according to a new study by Elizabeth Seng and Dr. Kenneth Holroyd from Ohio University in the US. Their comparison of the effects of various treatment combinations for severe migraine – drug therapy with or without behavioral management – shows that those patients receiving the behavioral management program alongside drug therapy are significantly more confident in their ability to use behavioral skills to effectively self-manage migraines.

Typically, migraine is considered to be an episodic disorder with discrete attacks of headache. But new research by Dr. Till Sprenger and his team from UCSF Headache Group and Technische Universität München found increased network activity – stronger functional connectivity – bilaterally in the visual, auditory and sensorimotor network in migraineurs. Findings will be presented at the American Headache Society’s 52nd Annual Scientific Meeting.

Reporting at the American Headache Society’s 52nd Annual Scientific Meeting in Los Angeles this week, new research shows that sleep deprivation leads to changes in the levels of key proteins that facilitate events involved in the underlying pathology of migraine. The work was supported by Merck & Co.

Migraine sufferers are twice as likely to have heart attacks as people without migraine, according to a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study, published in the February 10 online issue of Neurology, found that migraine sufferers also face increased risk for stroke and were more likely [...]

Doctors at Rush University Medical Center are offering pediatric patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses acupuncture therapy to help ease the pain and negative side effects like nausea, fatigue, and vomiting caused by chronic health conditions and intensive treatments. The confluence of Chinese and Western medicine at Rush Children’s Hospital is part of a study to [...]

New research shows that migraine and depression may share a strong genetic component. The research is published in the January 13, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Understanding the genetic factors that contribute to these disabling disorders could one day lead to better strategies to manage the [...]

Dr. M. Barry Sterman, along with Dr. Sarah H. Lisanby, discuss neurofeedback and other brain imaging and treatment modalities during a live interview on WNYC.org public radio. The radio segment entitled, “Please Explain: Neurofeedback,” is streamed online at no cost. Check the end of this report for a link to this interview.

There has been increasing interest of late in very slow electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. While this sort of activity has been recorded and studied for many years, and used in biofeedback protocols in several applications, it is only recently gaining popularity as another tool with potential mainstream application to clinical neurofeedback. Whatever the tool, before embarking on a new clinical path, a general understanding of the existing research, as well as the technical and neuro-physiological basics is crucial to a successful experience. While there is no need to get overly carried away by the technical issues, a little knowledge can help avoid misunderstandings and common pitfalls, while hopefully leading to better clinical outcomes.

Migraine headache afflicts 18% of women and 7% of men in the United States*. A recent meta-analysis* found that various forms of biofeedback may be an effective treatment for migraine headache. The primary peripheral biofeedback modalities under investigation included electromyography (EMG), skin temperature (TEMP), and heart rate variability (HRV) [referred to as blood-volume-pulse feedback in [...]
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