THE PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS-RESPONSE AND THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE COPING INMIGRAINE PATIENTS AND NONHEADACHE CONTROLS

Our study investigated physiological response specifity and cognitive coping in migrainous patients during an achievement task situation. Th irty-three migrainous subjects and thirty-two non-headache controls we re subjected to 40 min of demanding cognitive tasks and 20 min of reco very during which cranial and peripheral vasomotor responses were regi stered as well as electrodermal and myographic activity. Subjects of b oth groups were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions, a so -called 'spontaneous processing condition' and the 'positive coping tr eatment'. In this treatment condition subjects received a short traini ng in the conscious use of positive self-statements in stress situatio ns. Though a specific pattern of cranial vasomotor responses in migrai ne subjects could be verified by group statistics, this pattern was on ly found in very few individuals. Reliable differences between groups could not be identified in other physiological variables either. The h ypothesis that the predicted cranial vasomotor specifity in migraine s ubjects correlates with negative cognitive coping habits in migraine s ubjects best revealed in the 'spontaneous processing' condition, was n ot corroborated. The treatment variation regarding coping produced som ewhat paradoxical effects, more relaxed and positive self-evaluation ( subjective level) and more arousal (physiological level). Results are discussed for their impact on the psycho-biological model of migraine.