Quote:

Objective.— This study aims at investigating cortical thickness in cluster headache patients as compared with a healthy control group. Background.— The pathobiology of cluster headache is not yet fully understood, although a dysfunction of the hypothalamus has been suggested to be causal. Previous studies in migraine and trigeminal neuropathic pain have demonstrated changes in cortical thickness using cortex segmentation techniques, but no data have been published on cluster headache. Methods.— We investigated 12 men with episodic cluster headache during a phase without acute headache as well as age and sex-matched healthy controls using high resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging acquired at 3T and performed a categorical whole-brain surface-based comparison of cortical thickness between groups. Furthermore, a correlation analysis of disease duration and cortical thickness was conducted. Results.— In comparison with control subjects, we found a reduction of cortical thickness in the angular gyrus and the precentral gyrus in cluster headache patients contralaterally to the headache side. These reductions did not correlate with disease duration. The cortical thickness of an area within the primary sensory cortex correlated with disease duration. Conclusions.— This study demonstrates alterations in cortical thickness in cluster headache patients suggesting a potential role of cortical structures in cluster headache pathogenesis. However, it cannot be determined from this study whether the changes are cause or consequence of the disorder. The correlation of cortical thickness with disease duration in the somatosensory cortex may suggest disease-related plasticity in the somatosensory system.

Christian L. Seifert MD*, Stefano Magon PhD, Kathrin Staehle MD, Claus Zimmer MD, Annette Foerschler MD, Ernst-Wilhelm Radue MD, Volker Pfaffenrath MD, Thomas R. Tölle MD, Till Sprenger MD

Interesting Bob.  Thanks for posting that.

Linda_Howell wrote on Jul 24^th, 2012 at 11:11am:

Interesting Bob.  Thanks for posting that.

You understood that? I sure as heck didn't. What I am glad for is to see someone is still researching us. God bless. lance

Another step for CH kind. Next time the wife says I'm thick headed, I can say, only on one side.

Kidding aside, glad to see any research concerning us.

Don

OK, I'm in.  This is such out of the box thinking that it has me excited, too.  So much to ponder.  At least this investigation seeks to find some correlation between cortical thickness and CH sufferers.  Something anatomical which might predict susceptibility.  I recall some bone thickening diseases, but don't know why the investigators would seek to follow this line of query.  Are they thinking trauma?  Some osteoblastic phenomenon? 

Hope you are all decent.  Dang, this CH thing lowers my  expectations. 

TJ

I'm not sure if the quote above is from the same research but I read a study which was carried out in 1999 in think or the early 2000s. The study showed an increase in "Grey Matter" (the cerable cortex) around the Hippothalamus on the side of the CH. At the time they were unable to conclude if this was a cause or as a result of CH. The study doesn't seem to have gone anywhere since then.