What triggers cortical spreading depression?

Increased extracellular potassium ion concentration and excitatory glutamate contribute to the initiation and propagation of cortical spreading depression, which is the underlying cause of migraine aura.

What is spreading depression in brain?

Spreading depression (SD) is a neurophysiological phenomenon characterized by abrupt changes in intracellular ion gradients and sustained depolarization of neurons. It leads to loss of electrical activity, changes in the synaptic architecture, and an altered vascular response.

What does cortical spreading depression mean?

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is a slowly propagating wave of altered brain activity that involves dramatic changes in neuronal, glial and vascular function. CSD has recently been extensively characterized in humans via recordings from the exposed brain surface in patients with brain injury.

How do you stop cortical spreading depression?

Vagus nerve stimulation suppresses cortical spreading depression – a trigger for migraine. According to a study led by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School1 published in the journal Pain, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was found to suppress cortical spreading depression (CSD2).

How does an electroencephalogram ( EEG ) test work?

An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that detects electrical activity in your brain using small, metal discs (electrodes) attached to your scalp.

What kind of slowing does an EEG show?

Focal and Generalized Slowing and Significance. EEG can provide evidence for underlying diffuse or focal cerebral dysfunction through demonstration of background slowing. The two main types of slowing are focal and generalized slowing.

Which is the best Atlas of the abnormal EEG?

The Abnormal EEG – Electroencephalography (EEG): An Introductory Text and Atlas of Normal and Abnormal Findings in Adults, Children, and Infants – NCBI Bookshelf EEG can provide evidence for underlying diffuse or focal cerebral dysfunction through demonstration of background slowing.

Why is an EEG used to confirm brain death?

Why it’s done. An EEG might also be used to confirm brain death in someone in a persistent coma. A continuous EEG is used to help find the right level of anesthesia for someone in a medically induced coma.