Abstract
Headache is the first cause of consultation in neurology, and one of the most frequent reasons for consultation in general medicine. Migraine is one of the most common, prevalent, and socioeconomically impactful disabling primary headache disorders. Neuroticism can be conceptualized as a disposition to suffer anxiety and emotional disorders in general. Neuroticism has been associated with various mental and physical disorders (e.g., chronic pain, depression), including migraine. With the aim to explore in depth the relationship between migraine and neuroticism, and contribute to the understanding of this relation in order to provide a better treatment for migraine patients based on a personalized and more comprehensive approach, a scoping review was performed using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Databases were searched independently by the two researchers, reaching a final set of 18 articles to be included. The search terms were: migraine and neuroticism. Neuroticism seems to be highly prevalent in migraine patients. Findings reveal that migraine patients with comorbid depression and anxiety showed higher levels of neuroticism. Depression has been associated with an increased risk of transformation from episodic to chronic migraine whereas neuroticism might be a mediator factor. Neuroticism also might be a mediator factor between childhood maltreatment and migraine. The revision conducted confirms that: (1) Migraine patients usually have a higher level of neuroticism and vulnerability to negative affect, compared to non-migraineurs and tension-type headache patients. (2) Neuroticism is associated with migraine. Nonetheless, more research is needed to clarify potential moderators of this relationship and the role of neuroticism itself in this disease. This knowledge might be useful in order to promote a better management of negative emotions as part of intervention programs in migraine.
Highlights
Received: 18 December 2021Headache is the first cause of consultation in neurology, and one of the most frequent reasons for consultation in a general medicine office [1]
Migraine patients usually have a higher level of neuBased and on research evidence, migraine used to have a higher leveland of neuroticism vulnerability to negative affect,patients in comparison with non-migraineurs roticism and vulnerability to negative affect, intrait comparison withhas non-migraineurs tension-type headache patients
The personality trait of neuroticism has with migraine, research is needed to clarify potential moderators been of thisassociated relationship
Summary
Headache is the first cause of consultation in neurology, and one of the most frequent reasons for consultation in a general medicine office [1]. In the case of a migraine with aura, the disseminated neuronal depression or depolarization is an electrophysiological phenomenon, which seems to be responsible for triggering the headache attacks [24]. It consists of a depolarization of the membrane of neurons and glial cells in the cortex, which spreads through the rest of the brain areas at a speed of approximately 3 m/min. The sensitization of the first-order neuron of this consistent with the asymmetric distribution of perfusion and metabolism associated with pathway results in the characteristics of pulsatile, unilateral pain, which is aggravated by cortical disseminated depression [27]. In order to know the nature of the disease and increase the effectiveness of the treatment, the individual must look for and avoid possible triggers (i.e., stress, some foods and drinks, hormonal changes in women, sensory stimuli such as bright lights and loud sounds, insomnia and hypersomnia, intense physical exercise, marked changes in temperature, some medications, etc.) [1]
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