Abstract #3038

Quantifying changes in excitation and inhibition in childhood migraine

Tiffany Kay Bell^1,2,3, Megan Webb^1,2,3, Melanie Noel^3,4, Farnaz Amoozegar^5,6, and Ashley D Harris^1,2,3

¹Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ²Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ³Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ⁴Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ⁵Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ⁶Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada

Though migraine is one of the top five most common childhood diseases, there has been relatively little investigation into migraine in children. There is evidence of abnormal excitability in the cortex of children with migraine, but levels of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters have not been investigated. We used MRS to compare levels of the neurotransmitters GABA (inhibitory) and Glx (glutamate + glutamine; excitatory) between children with migraine and typically developing controls. We found no significant difference in neurotransmitter levels in the brain of children with migraine; however we found a relationship between neurotransmitter levels and migraine characteristics.

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