Attention Impairment During the Interictal State in Migraineurs without Aura: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Cheng Chen,1,2,* Xin Dong,1,* Ping Gu,1 Keyan Chen,1 Qi Wan,1 Haiyue Xie,3 Zhaochun Shi,1 Teng Wang1 1Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, 241000, People’s Republic of China; 3The First Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Teng Wang; Zhaochun ShiDepartment of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, People’s Republic of ChinaTel [phone]; [phone]Fax [phone]Email [email protected]; [email protected] and Purpose: Migraine suffering is more than the onset of head pain. The broad non-painful clinical symptoms associated with migraine are not well recognized. Recent researches support that migraineurs suffer attention deficits, but these findings are not conclusive. The purpose of our study was to assess whether patients with migraine without aura (MwoA) during the interictal period have attention impairment and to identify the migraine characteristics related to attention deficits.Methods: We enrolled subjects with MwoA during the interictal period and healthy controls matched for age, gender, and education level in this cross-sectional study. The attention network test (ANT) and a battery of neuropsychological tests, including the trail-making test (TMT), the digit span test (DST), and the Stroop test, were administered to the participants during the headache-free period.Results: Forty-four subjects with MwoA (4 males, 40 females) and 20 controls matched for age, gender, and literacy education were included. Patients in MwoA were more anxious (P = 0.007) and depressed (P = 0.001) than healthy subjects. Significant differences between the two groups were detected in the executive network (P = 0.006) but not in the alerting and orienting networks of ANT. Mean reaction time of ANT in the MwoA group was significantly longer than that in the control group (P = 0.028). Patients showed worse performance on DST-forward (P < 0.001), DST-backward (P < 0.001), DS Total (P < 0.001), TMT-A (P < 0.001), TMT-B (P < 0.001) and TMT-d (P = 0.002). Differences found in executive functions between the two groups were unrelated to gender, age, literacy, anxiety, and depression. Multiple regression analysis revealed no relation between clinical characteristics of headache and scores on the executive function with MwoA.Conclusion: Our study suggested that patients in MwoA present worse performances on the executive control of attention networks during the headache-free period, which appear not be associated with measures of migraine severity. Although more studies are needed in this area, our results could be useful to find specific neuropsychological biomarker for migraine pathophysiology.Keywords: migraine without aura, attention, attention network test, executive function, reaction time

Keywords

• migraine without aura
• attention
• attention network test
• executive function
• reaction time