ReviewThe journal of headache and pain2013
Cortical spreading depression as a target for anti-migraine agents.
Review in The journal of headache and pain, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03026101 (Understanding the Role of the External Carotid Artery in the Pathophysiology of Migraine Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 76 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Understanding the Role of the External Carotid Artery in the Pathophysiology of Migraine Pain
Who cites it
76 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of low dose thyroxine in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism and migraine; systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC neurology · 2025Pooled it
- A role of NLRP3 and MMP9 in migraine progression: a systematic review of translational study.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Role of memantine in adult migraine: a systematic review and network meta-analysis to compare memantine with existing migraine preventive medications.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Retinal nerve fiber layer changes in migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2021Pooled it
- The Relevance of Crystal Clear and Unclear Days to Evaluate Residual Interictal Burden in Patients With Migraine Treated With CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies.European journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Bridging the gap: molecular mechanisms, regional activity and connectivity in headache disorders.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Current Trends in Management of Migraine: A Review of Current Practice and Recent Advances.CNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2026Review
- Is canonical SD a clinically relevant model of migraine? Argument pro.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Is canonical SD a clinically relevant model of migraine? Argument con.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Migraine and Alcohol-Is It Really That Harmful?Nutrients · 2025Review
- Probiotic modulation of central and peripheral sensitization in a migraine model via the gut-brain-trigeminal axis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Synaptic Pathology in Traumatic Brain Injury and Therapeutic Insights.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Neuro-ophthalmology and migraine: visual aura and its neural basis.International journal of emergency medicine · 2025Review
- Genetic influence of the brain imaging phenotypes, brain and cerebrospinal fluid metabolites and brain genes on migraine subtypes: a Mendelian randomization and multi-omics study.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
- Hallmarks of primary headache: part 1 - migraine.The journal of headache and pain · 2024Review
- Influences of Genetic and Environmental Factors on Chronic Migraine: A Narrative Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Review
- Migraine - a borderland disease to epilepsy: near it but not of it.The journal of headache and pain · 2024Review
- Efficacy and safety of levetiracetam for migraine prophylaxis in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- New perspectives on migraine treatment: a review of the mechanisms and effects of complementary and alternative therapies.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
- Problems in management of medication overuse headache in transgender and gender non-conforming populations.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Spreading depression (SD) is a slowly propagating wave of neuronal and glial depolarization lasting a few minutes, that can develop within the cerebral cortex or other brain areas after electrical, mechanical or chemical depolarizing stimulations. Cortical SD (CSD) is considered the neurophysiological correlate of migraine aura. It is characterized by massive increases in both extracellular K⁺ and glutamate, as well as rises in intracellular Na⁺ and Ca²⁺. These ionic shifts produce slow direct current (DC) potential shifts that can be recorded extracellularly. Moreover, CSD is associated with changes in cortical parenchymal blood flow. CSD has been shown to be a common therapeutic target for currently prescribed migraine prophylactic drugs. Yet, no effects have been observed for the antiepileptic drugs carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine, consistent with their lack of efficacy on migraine. Some molecules of interest for migraine have been tested for their effect on CSD. Specifically, blocking CSD may play an enabling role for novel benzopyran derivative tonabersat in preventing migraine with aura. Additionally, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists have been recently reported to inhibit CSD, suggesting the contribution of CGRP receptor activation to the initiation and maintenance of CSD not only at the classic vascular sites, but also at a central neuronal level. Understanding what may be lying behind this contribution, would add further insights into the mechanisms of actions for "gepants", which may be pivotal for the effectiveness of these drugs as anti-migraine agents. CSD models are useful tools for testing current and novel prophylactic drugs, providing knowledge on mechanisms of action relevant for migraine.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.