Cognitive functions and psychological symptoms in migraine: a study on patients with and without aura.

AIM: Migraine is neurological disorder with a complex pathophysiology. We described the neuropsychological profile of 100 migraineurs (50 with visual aura and 50 without aura), in interictal phase, compared to 50 matched healthy controls.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A battery of standardized neuropsychological tests was used to assess attention, memory and executive functions. Beck Depression Inventory and Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety were used to evaluate anxiety and depressive symptoms. Severity of disability during daily activities was assessed by Migraine Disability Assessment.

RESULTS: Migraine without aura showed a significant difference in comparison to healthy controls in semantic verbal fluency (p = 0.02), delayed memory (p < 0.001) and set-shifting (p < 0.001). Migraine with aura showed a significant difference in delayed memory (p = 0.001) and set-shifting (p = 0.005) if compared to healthy controls. No significant correlation between cognitive functions and mood was found (HAM-A p = 0.67) (BDI-II p = 0.42).

CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed isolate and specific cognitive deficit during interictal phase in migraine patients. Future studies are need to identify if specific migraine characteristics may affect cognitive functions.