title: Visual distortion provoked by a stimulus in migraine associated with hyperneuronal activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Migraineurs with visual aura are highly susceptible to illusions and visual distortion and are particularly sensitive to a pattern of regularly spaced parallel lines or stripes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the high degree of susceptibility to illusions and visual distortion in migraineurs with aura is associated with hyperneurological activity of the occipital cortex.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to investigate any relationships among neuronal activity, spatial frequency of square-wave gratings, and self-described visual distortion, we investigated the neuronal and psychophysical responses to square-wave gratings in migraineurs with visual aura and in nonheadache controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Square-wave gratings provoked various types of visual distortion and illusions and induced a hyperneuronal response in the visual cortex of migraineurs with visual aura, a response that strongly depended upon the stimulus spatial frequency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The hyperneuronal activity of the occipital cortex is consistent with general cortical hyperexcitability in migraine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Satana
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020325:Migraine with Aura / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014787:Vision Tests; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology