Psychophysiological mechanisms of chronic headaches: investigation using pain induction and pain reduction procedures

Abstract

Psychophysiological investigations of tension headaches and migraines have produced inconsistent and inconclusive findings. The study reported here aimed to further explore headache mechanisms by repeating earlier research with two main variations. The first pertained to recording and analytic procedures: a different approach was taken to measuring and interpreting cephalic vascular activity. The second was in the experimental conditions used: pain levels were manipulated so that the psychophysiology of headaches could be studied under conditions of pain increasing and decreasing. The findings provided no support for the role of muscle tension as a headache mechanism. Tentative support was obtained for vascular models of headaches. Headaches were associated with distension of the superficial temporal artery between pressure pulses. The data suggested that local vasomotor activity might play a role in dilating the temporal artery but that the effect seemed driven by elevated blood pressure and heart rate.