Current understanding of premonitory networks in migraine: A window to attack generation

Aim To describe neuronal networks underlying commonly reported migraine premonitory symptoms and to discuss how these might precipitate migraine pain. Background Migraine headache is frequently preceded by a distinct and well characterized premonitory phase including symptoms like yawning, sleep disturbances, alterations in appetite and food intake and hypersensitivity to certain external stimuli. Recent neuroimaging studies strongly suggest the hypothalamus as the key mediator of the premonitory phase and also suggested alterations in hypothalamic networks as a mechanism of migraine attack generation. When looking at the vast evidence from basic research within the last decades, hypothalamic and thalamic networks are most likely to integrate peripheral influences with central mechanisms, facilitating the precipitation of migraine headaches. These networks include sleep, feeding and stress modulating centers within the hypothalamus, thalamic pathways and brainstem centers closely involved in trigeminal pain processing such as the spinal trigeminal nucleus and the rostral ventromedial medulla, all of which are closely interconnected. Conclusion Taken together, these networks represent the pathophysiological basis for migraine premonitory symptoms as well as a possible integration site of peripheral so-called “triggers” with central attack facilitating processes.