Line bisection performance in right-handed primary headache sufferers.
BACKGROUND
In previous studies, patients with migraine and tension-type headaches have shown asymmetries at the central nervous system level.


OBJECTIVE
Hence we would like to figure out whether the lateral cerebral dominance might be more pronounced in the line bisection performance with these patients.


METHODS
Patients were enrolled in a specialized headache clinic and healthy volunteers from a community as controls.


METHODS
The visual line bisection is used to test the unilateral neglect of subjects. Altogether, we studied 28 patients with chronic tension-type, 16 frequent episodic tension-type headache, 31 migraine patients without aura between attacks and 146 healthy volunteers.


METHODS
One-way ANOVA was applied to the mean Index and Net of line bisection errors and the Spearman rank order to the relationship between the Index, Net, subject's age and time since onset of head pain.


CONCLUSIONS
As reflected by group means of Index of line bisection errors, healthy subjects and migraine patients bisected slightly rightward. Conversely, both forms of tension-type headache sufferers bisected significantly leftward compared to the healthy subjects as well as the migraine sufferers. The study indicates relatively strong right or weak left hemisphere activation or both in the two forms of tension-type headaches, confirming the central nervous system alterations in such patients.
Department of Neurology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, and Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Xingyue
X
Hu
Yuhong
Y
Liu
Xinmin
X
Liu
Mowei
M
Shen
Roger A
RA
Drake
Wei
W
Wang
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006261:Headache / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020326:Migraine without Aura / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult