J. Passchier et al., ABNORMAL EXTRACRANIAL VASOMOTOR RESPONSE IN MIGRAINE SUFFERERS TO REAL-LIFE STRESS, Journal of psychosomatic research, 37(4), 1993, pp. 405-414
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.