The image shows a schematic of how cortical spreading depression might interact with the trigeminovascular system in one proposed model of migraine pathology.1
Read more about the aetiology of migraine.
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Migraine attacks can be broken down into four phases: prodrome, aura, headache, and postdrome, as shown on the image. The exact timing of each phase is highly variable; the headache phase of a migraine can range from 4–72 hours in adults, and 2–48 hours in children.