Hypothalamus as a conductor of the migraine prodrome: A narrative review
Abstract
Objectives/background: This narrative review summarizes evidence implicating a role for the hypothalamus in the prodrome phase of a migraine attack. Prodrome is the earliest phase of the migraine attack. Understanding the migraine prodrome could lead to a better description of how migraine attacks are initiated and identification of targets for acute and preventive migraine treatment. The hypothalamus has been implicated in migraine prodrome via (1) localization of common prodrome symptoms to the hypothalamus; (2) identification of neurotransmitters, peptides, and hormones important in migraine pathophysiology for which the hypothalamus influences their production or release; and (3) brain neuroimaging studies identifying changes in hypothalamic activity and functional connectivity during the prodrome and preheadache phases of the migraine attack.
Methods: For this narrative review, PubMed was searched for relevant English language articles using the terms "hypothalamus, prodrome," "hypothalamus, premonitory," "hypothalamus, migraine," "migraine, prodrome," and "migraine, premonitory." The PubMed search was performed on October 29, 2025. Full articles were chosen for review based on their relevance to the three areas defined just above: symptom localization, neuropeptide/neurotransmitter release, and brain imaging.
Results: Those with migraine commonly, and often consistently, experience prodrome symptoms, including hypersensitivities to visual and auditory stimuli, neck…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Calcium Ions in the Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System
- AI-powered in silico twins: redefining precision medicine through simulation, personalization, and predictive healthcare
- In silico functional, structural and pathogenicity analysis of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms in human MCM6 gene
- In Silico drug repurposing pipeline using deep learning and structure based approaches in epilepsy
- Targeting serotonin receptors with phytochemicals – an in-silico study
- In silico exploration of anti-prostate cancer compounds from differential expressed genes
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.