Sleep in Episodic Migraine
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Longitudinal Assessment of Sleep in Episodic Migraine
IRAS ID
304289
Contact name
Jan Hoffmann
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 28 days
Research summary
There is a relationship between sleep and migraine. Many patients with migraine report that disrupted, or excess sleep triggers their migraine attacks. Similarly, going to sleep or napping can relieve attacks for some patients. A recent analysis of published data from multiple studies found that adults with migraine have less rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep during the night compared to individuals without migraine. A sleep stage involved in learning. However, many of the patients in these studies were on medications for their migraines which could have affected their sleep cycle and resulted in the reduced REM sleep. They also slept only one night in the laboratory which could mean their sleep was different to how it normally is at home. It is also unclear whether patients were currently experiencing an attack at the time of recording in previous studies, or if they were in-between attacks.
The aim of the current project is to assess sleep in people with migraine over the course of an attack, in their own home using a portable polysomnography / electroencephalography (EEG) device which captures brain activity signals, enabling the researchers to distinguish any changes in sleep across time. Furthermore, there are small neural oscillations which can be picked up using polysomnography which could be different in migraine patients. Another aim of this study will be to assess whether there are any differences in such brain oscillations in migraine patients who are not on any medications. Moreover, to see whether sleep generally, as well as more subtler oscillations changes according to the phase of the attack which the patient is in (e.g. the headache attack phase, as well as between attacks). Gaining a greater insight into sleep in migraine patients can help pave the way for further research and the development of potential treatments.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SW/0052
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion