Men with migraines and healthy women wanted for a study

Migraine is a common neurological condition whose underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Changes in the processing of pain stimuli, as well as certain neurotransmitters in the nervous system – known as neuropeptides – may play an important role. A research team at the Department of Neurology at Würzburg University Hospital (UKW) is therefore investigating how pain processing in people with migraine differs from that in healthy individuals.

The study is already at an advanced stage of data collection. Consequently, the team is now specifically seeking adult male participants with migraine. Furthermore, to ensure the best possible comparability with the migraine patients already studied, the research team also requires healthy women without migraine, aged between 18 and 24 and between 35 and 49, to form the control group.

Start with a short online questionnaire

Those interested should first complete an online questionnaire. This takes around five minutes for healthy control subjects and around 30 minutes for migraine patients. Among other things, this checks whether the eligibility criteria for taking part in the study are met. If suitable, an appointment will be arranged at the UKW.

The on-site examination takes around two hours. During this, an EEG is used to record the brain’s electrical activity. In addition, pain-conducting nerve fibres are specifically stimulated using electrical stimuli applied through the skin. A blood sample is taken to analyse certain neuropeptides that may be associated with pain processing. Participants will receive an allowance of 20 euros for the on-site examination.

The study is being led by Prof. Dr Claudia Sommer. The contact persons are PhD candidate Zhuolin Zhao and medical PhD candidate Viktoria Kohler. Anyone interested should please send any questions by email.