Interictal abnormal fMRI activation of visual areas during a motor task cued by visual stimuli in migraine

OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity after light deprivation compared to regular light exposure in subjects with migraine in the interictal state and in controls. METHODS: Ten subjects with migraine and ten controls participated in two sessions of functional magnetic resonance imaging. In each session, they performed a finger-tapping task with the right hand, cued by visual stimuli. They were scanned before and after 30 minutes of light deprivation or light exposure. In subjects with migraine, functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed interictally. Analysis of variance was made with the factors time (before or after), session (light deprivation or exposure), and group (migraine or control). RESULTS: There were significant “group” effects in a cluster in the bilateral cuneus encompassing the superior border of the calcarine sulcus and extrastriate cortex. There were no significant effects of “time”, “session”, or interactions between these factors. CONCLUSION: The main result of this study is consistent with aberrant interictal processing of visual information in migraine. Light deprivation did not modulate functional magnetic resonance imaging activity in subjects with or without migraine.