A new study conducted by the researchers of the Harvard Medical School showed that sex differences in the brain structure of men and women makes women more prone to throbbing migraine headaches.
The researchers recruited 44 men and women to conduct the study some of whom have had migraines. It was found that women’s brain contains thicker gray matter in the two regions- posteror insula, which processes a person’s sense of pain and precuneus region in brain responsible for developing a person’s sense of self. Furthermore, it was observed that intensity of migraine does not differentiate in men and women, however, migraine caused headache is more severe in women than men.
Researchers undertook additional experiment in which the participants were exposed to heat. It was found that the brain of women suffering from migraine responds distinctively to the pain than men. The findings of the study supported 'sex phenotype' in migraine and signaled different brain functioning in males and females suffering from migraine.