Schwedt TJ, et al. – Researchers compared brain structure in individuals with persistent post–traumatic headache (i.e. headache lasting at least 3 months following a traumatic brain injury) attributed to mild traumatic brain injury to that of individuals with migraine. They concluded that persistent post–traumatic headache and migraine were correlated with differences in brain structure, perhaps implying differences in their underlying pathophysiology. To further delineate similarities and differences in brain structure and function that were correlated with post–traumatic headache and migraine and to determine their specificity for each of the headache types, additional studies were needed.

• For this study, 28 individuals with persistent post-traumatic headache attributed to mild traumatic brain injury and 28 individuals with migraine underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging on a 3 T scanner.
• The researchers calculated regional volumes, cortical thickness, surface area and curvature measurements from T1-weighted sequences and compared between subject groups using ANCOVA.
• They used MRI data from 28 healthy control subjects to interpret the differences in brain structure between migraine and persistent post-traumatic headache.

• When comparing the group of individuals with persistent post-traumatic headache to the group with migraine, differences in regional volumes, cortical thickness, surface area and brain curvature were identified.
• Between groups, structure was different for regions within the right lateral orbitofrontal lobe, left caudal middle frontal lobe, left superior frontal lobe, left precuneus and right supramarginal gyrus (p < .05).
• Regarding these regions only, they found differences between individuals with persistent post-traumatic headache and healthy controls within the right lateral orbitofrontal lobe, right supramarginal gyrus, and left superior frontal lobe and no differences when comparing the migraine cohort to healthy controls.