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Blocking a single neurotransmitter in the brain may stop the firing of the nerves that are linked with migraine headaches, a new study in animals suggests.
In experiments, researchers looked at the effects of two vasodilators — which are medicines that cause blood vessels to widen, increasing blood flow — on certain receptors in rats’ brain cells.
They found that when they administered one of these vasodilators, nicknamed PACAP, directly into the rats’ brains, a cluster of neurons in the center of the head called the trigeminovascular system started firing more than normal, mimicking the symptoms of a migraine in the animals. The researchers measured this firing by using electrodes to monitor signals from the rats’ brains.
Previous research has shown that migraine patients have elevated levels of PACAP.
“To understand migraines, you need to understand what chemicals the brain is using to transmit the signal” that causes the headaches, Peter Goadsby, a neurologist at Kings College London, and a co-author of the study, told Live Science.
However, a treatment that would be based on these findings is a long way off. Although rat brains and human brains are similar in many ways, it isn’t absolutely certain that this compound would affect humans the same way as it does the rats.
Read full, original post: Migraines May Begin Deep in the Brain
