EEG Features in Juvenile Migraine: Topographic Analysis of Spontaneous and Visual Evoked Brain Electrical Activity: A Comparison with Adult Migraine

Topographic analysis of spontaneous and steady-state visual evoked brain electrical activity was carried out between attacks in 82 migraine patients (40 youths and 42 adults). In adult migraine with aura a significant increase of delta rhythm percentage power was observed compared with migraine without aura and age-matched controls. Children suffering from migraine both with aura and without aura had an increased theta rhythm compared to normal controls. The presence of alpha interhemispheric asymmetry discriminated between migraine with aura and without aura, just as in adults. An increased amplitude of the SVEP F1 component with a tendency to the spread of visual reactivity was observed in juvenile migraine with and without aura; this pattern was not dissimilar from the one previously observed in adult migraine with and without aura. Abnormal photic driving in migraine is independent of age and type of migraine.