title: Negative emotions in migraineurs dreams: the increased prevalence of oneiric fear and anguish, unrelated to mood disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Migraineurs brain has shown some functional peculiarities that reflect not only in phonophobia, and photophobia, but also in mood and sleep. Dreaming is a universal mental state characterized by hallucinatory features in which imagery, emotion, motor skills, and memory are created de novo. We evaluated dream contents and associated emotions in migraineurs.
  
  
  METHODS
  412 subjects: 219 controls; and 148 migraineurs (66 with aura, MA; 82 without aura, MO), and 45 tension type headache patients (TTH). A semistructured retrospective self-reported questionnaire was used to evaluate dreams. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were administered to evaluate anxiety and depression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Migraineurs showed increased levels of anxiety (P = 0.0002 for MA versus controls, P = 0.004 for MO versus controls). Fear and anguish during dreaming were more frequently reported by migraine patients compared to controls, independently by anxiety and depression scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The brain of migraineurs seems to dream with some peculiar features, all with a negative connotation, as fear and anguish. It may be due to the recorded negative sensations induced by recurrent migraine pain, but it may just reflect a peculiar attitude of the mesolimbic structures of migraineurs brain, activated in both dreaming and migraine attacks.
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: De Angeli
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Lovati
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Giani
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Mariotti D'Alessandro
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Raimondi
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Scaglione
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Castoldi
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Capiluppi
authors: Neurological Unit, Headache Center, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, No. 74, 20157 Milan, Italy.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Mariani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult