CORTICAL SPREADING DEPRESSION REDUCES DURAL BLOOD-FLOW - A POSSIBLE MECHANISM FOR MIGRAINE PAIN

These experiments were designed to investigate a possible mechanism li nking the phenomenon of cortical spreading depression with activation of the trigeminal sensory system in migraine. Blood flow in the cortex and middle meningeal artery was measured in cats before and during pr opagation of a wave of cortical spreading depression, initiated by cor tical pin-prick. This caused a transient propagated increase in cortic al blood flow. Cortical spreading depression was accompanied by a decr ease in blood flow in the middle meningeal artery, sometimes to very l ow levels. The results suggest that the pain of migraine could arise f rom dural ischemia induced by cortical spreading depression.