title: Development of visual contour integration in children with migraine without aura.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As migraine attacks pose insult to cerebral circulation and ion homeostasis, migraine has the potential to interfere with the development of different brain structures, producing functional deficits. It is known that visual contour integration (CI) is a function with a protracted development. Therefore, we sought to establish whether migraine interferes with its development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight migraineurs (without aura) and 48 age- and sex-matched controls participated in the study, divided into three cohorts by age. Stimuli were presented on cards with a contour consisting of Gabor patches embedded in random noise. Difficulty was varied by the manipulation of relative noise density. The task was to identify and show the contour.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant difference was found between the performance of migraineurs and controls in the 10-14-year-old and 15-18-year-old cohorts (p < 0.05). Development between all three cohorts was significant in the control group (p < 0.017), while it was not significant in migraineurs between 6 and 14 years. Correlation between age and CI threshold was stronger in controls than in migraineurs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with paediatric migraine exhibited a less marked development in the Gabor patch-based CI task.
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Hungary. bgabor@phys.szote.u-szeged.hu
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Braunitzer
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rokszin
authors.forename: Jeno
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kóbor
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sztriha
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benedek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*