This dissertation assesses whether intense visual stimulation can act as a stressor to migraine sufferers between attacks, and whether subjective and psychophysiological reactions to these stimuli can clarify how migraine attacks may be triggered. / The first study assessed thresholds of light-induced discomfort and pain in migraine sufferers and non-migrainous controls during a non-headache period. Two instruction sets were compared to assess whether information presented to participants would affect thresholds. The results showed that migraineurs had significantly lower thresholds for light-induced pain. However, this effect was most apparent in those who had heard the negatively biased instructions reinforcing the need to control contextual factors when assessing subjective phenomena such as visual discomfort. / The second study assessed subjective and psychophysiological responses of female migraine sufferers and female controls during exposure to visual stimuli incorporating spatial and temporal characteristics that are most likely to be bothersome to migraineurs. Two control stimuli were included to assess responses during similar, but theoretically less aversive conditions. Migraine sufferers had higher heart rate and more frequent electrodermal responses than controls at all points of the study, including baseline and recovery. However, while migraineurs reported higher anxiety during the intense conditions, and reported more visual and somatic complaints than controls during various viewing conditions, they did not show heart rate, heart rate variability or electrodermal changes that would suggest clear changes in autonomic function in response to aversive visual stimulation. / The third study assessed ambulatory electrocardiograms to investigate whether autonomic changes would be evident in the period leading up to, during or following a migraine. Three individuals were assessed on a day when they experienced a naturally occurring headache, and on a day when they were not. No obvious pattern of autonomic change was detected before or after headache, although there was some evidence that a pattern of increased heart rate and decreased vagal tone may accompany headache. / In summary, the results confirm that migraine sufferers are more sensitive to intense visual stimulation than controls, but do not support the contention that exposure results in widespread autonomic changes. Since interictal visual discomfort is a common in migraine, further research is needed to clarify how it can be incorporated into models of migraine pathophysiology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.38475 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Crotogino, Jennifer |
| Contributors | Ditto, Blaine (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001954004, proquestno: NQ85697, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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