Gray matter decrease in patients with chronic tension type headache

2005/11/08 by Tobias Schmidt‐Wilcke, T. Schmidt-Wilcke, E. Leinisch +12 · 29 citations
Medicine · #Anesthesia #Chronic pain #Gray (unit) #Medicine #Migraine and Headache Studies #Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation #Nuclear medicine #Pain Mechanisms and Treatments #Physical therapy

paper · doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000183067.94400.80

openalex publication_date 2005/11/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Using MRI and voxel-based morphometry, the authors investigated 20 patients with chronic tension type headache (CTTH) and 20 patients with medication-overuse headache and compared them to 40 controls with no headache history. Only patients with CTTH demonstrated a significant gray matter decrease in regions known to be involved in pain processing. The finding implies that the alterations are specific to CTTH rather than a response to chronic head pain or chronification per se.

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