---
title: Does migraine affect your ability to think clearly? | Niyora
description: Women with migraine performed as well as healthy women on a memory task, but their brains showed lower activity in a deep brain region after an attack. Result
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/preserved-working-memory-performance-along-with-subcortical-modulation-during-2025/
---

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- Does migraine affect your ability to think clearly?

Cohort study, 2025

# Does migraine affect your ability to think clearly?

Women with migraine performed as well as healthy women on a memory task, but their brains showed lower activity in a deep brain region after an attack. Results are from a small group, so we should be cautious.

 Early or limited evidence

10 women with menstrual-related migraine without aura and 14 healthy controls, aged 21-47

## What they did

10 women with menstrual migraine and 14 healthy women did brain scans while doing a memory task. Scans were done at different phases of their migraine or menstrual cycle: before attack, during attack, after attack, and between attacks.

## What they found

Both groups performed equally on the memory task. Memory-related brain regions lit up similarly. Migraine patients showed significantly lower activity in the hypothalamus (a deep brain region) after an attack compared to controls (percent signal change -2 versus 31).

## What it means for you

Migraine does not appear to harm your thinking or memory. However, a deep brain region involved in hormone control works differently after an attack. The study was small (only 10 migraine patients), so results may not apply broadly.

10

migraine patients

14

healthy controls

4

phases of migraine cycle measured

## About the study

Original title Preserved working memory performance along with subcortical modulation during peri-ictal phases in spontaneous migraine attacks Authors Ruiz-Tagle A, Caetano G, Fouto A et al. Journal Headache Year 2025 Study design Cohort study Participants 14 What was tested Working memory task during brain imaging at different migraine cycle phases Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/head.14850](https://doi.org/10.1111/head.14850)

## Topics

[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Migraine](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-migraine/)

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