ABNORMAL EXTRACRANIAL VASOMOTOR RESPONSE IN MIGRAINE SUFFERERS TO REAL-LIFE STRESS

Temporal and digital pulse amplitudes, forehead temperature, heart rat e, respiration rate and electrodermal activity of 37 migraine patients and 37 matched controls from a population of psychology students were recorded during three experimental sessions: adaptation, real-life st ress (an examination) and experimental stress (an IQ test). Migraine s ufferers showed significantly smaller pulse amplitudes of the temporal artery during the examination than the control group. No group differ ences were present in the other physiological measures. The findings a re interpreted as indirect evidence for the symptom specificity hypoth esis, which states that individuals with specific psychosomatic compla ints display abnormal responses to stress in the relevant physiologica l system.