A Novel Hypothesis for Migraine Disease Mechanism: The Creation of a New Attractor Responsible for Migraine Disease Symptoms

Abstract

Migraine Disease (MD) is one of the common primary headaches that can prevent patients from their everyday life. Despite the high prevalence, the pathophysiology of the disease has not been clearly understood yet. Here, the brain is considered as a dynamical system. The Chua’s circuit with a chaotic attractor is the proposed model. This attractor has a one-scroll mode representing a healthy brain and a double-scroll mode representing a migraine sufferer brain. We believe that MD and Chua’s systems have certain behavioral similarities. The boundaries of the attractor are the sensitive brain areas in which any small trigger can start the ictal phase of the migraine. The transition from the inter-ictal phase to the ictal phase in migraine patients occurs due to a decrease in serotonin levels when the brain is within the boundaries of the first attractor. Here, this is the results of the increase of system parameters. In addition, the transition from the ictal phase to the inter-ictal phase in a migraine sufferer brain is caused by a disruption of coordination in the brain’s structures and this lasts for a certain period for every migraine patient. The structures which are the result of the Migraine Generator Network (MGN) and Cortical Spreading Depression (CSD). This explanation may propose newer methods for preventing or curing MD. To better understand MD to control it and shrink the areas involved in this disease, it is better to know the dynamic systems better. It may help prevent the formation of migraine ictal attractor or even make the migraine ictal phase attractor smaller even after it has been formed.