Authors
Darcy Mandell
Publication date
2016
Institution
University of Pittsburgh
Description
Migraine sufferers have been characterized as particularly “stress-sensitive,” and they tend to experience headaches following periods of increased psychological stress. The biological mechanisms responsible for this unusual stress response are poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear why migraineurs suffer from headaches in response to stress while others do not. Several theories have implicated autonomic dysfunction—and in particular, sympathetic hyper-reactivity to stress—as a way of explaining increased psychological stress reactivity found in migraineurs. Despite efforts to capture these patterns in laboratory stress settings, researchers have been largely unable to provide reliable evidence of autonomic hyper-reactivity to acute stress in this population.
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