Editorial: Common and distinct mechanisms of migraine and stroke

Overview & Synopsis

The Research Topic “Common and distinct mechanisms of migraine and stroke” is focused on the underlying mechanisms of both disorders. Both migraine and stroke are common and costly disorders that pose a great burden on the patient, their family, and society. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a bidirectional comorbidity, which poses the question to what extent similar molecular mechanisms lead to the disorders and the co-occurrence in a patient. Evidence for a mechanistic link between stroke and migraine is strongest for migraine with aura and suggests that spreading depolarization (SD) in the brain is a key shared mechanism. Still, other mechanisms, e.g., neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, likely contribute to both pathologies, and a hypercoagulable state may also play a role in both migraine and stroke (Figure 1). Whereas, current evidence suggests a “stroke-migraine SD continuum,” we lack detailed knowledge on the full spectrum of underlying neurobiological mechanisms in migraine and stroke, hence the focus of the Research Topic.