Study Goals: The goal of this research study is to examine brain changes associated with migraine in kids, adolescents and young adults.
The successful outcome of the study may provide critical understanding of how migraine may affect normal brain development over the formative years of a person’s life. Studying the migraine brain during the critical transitional period from child to adult may lead to new measures for the prognosis of the condition and identify new treatment targets in the early stages of migraine.
Our Approach: We use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to measure changes in brain structure, connectivity, and blood flow in patients with migraines.
Eligibility to participate: 7-26 year old with migraine. Healthy 7-26 year old individuals are also eligible to participate in the control group of the study.
Study Visit Overview: The study is comprised of 4 parts and will take approximately 3 hours.
- A short neurological evaluation by our study physician (~15 minutes)
- Completing questionnaires (~1 hour)
- A temperature sensitivity test (~15 minutes)
- An MRI (~1 hour)
Compensation: Participants will receive a $100 (if under 18 years of age) or $120 (if over 18) gift card for their participation. All participants will also receive a picture of their brain from the MRI scan.
Funding Sources: This study is supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and by the Anesthesia Research Distinguished Trailblazer Award – received from the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine.
If you are interested in learning more, please contact:
migraine@childrens.harvard.edu
