Migraine headaches are a common and often debilitating neurological disorder affecting between 18-25% of the female population and 6-13% of the male population. There has been no universal agreement on the long or short-term effects of chronic migraine headaches on neurocognitive function or on the cognitive recovery patterns following a migraine. Research has also been inconclusive on the effects physical activity may have on the intensity and frequency of migraine attacks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of physical activity on neurocognitive function and recovery patterns in collegiate students who incur a migraine headache compared to collegiate students who do not incur a migraine.

One hundred twenty-two (122) individuals completed baseline testing with 44 migraineurs incurring a migraine and completing all testing. They were matched to 44 non-migraine controls for sex, education level and age. A pre-test/post-test design was used with the following independent variables: migraine status, physical activity, testing occasion sex, exercise, sleep, and diagnosis status. The dependent variables were the four composite scores of ImPACT (verbal memory composite score, visual memory composite score, reaction time composite score, and motor processing speed), level of pain, and impact of headache scores. Descriptive statistics and several analyses using MANOVAs, ANOVAs and t-tests which were performed with the alpha level set a priori at .05.

Repeated measures one-way ANOVA revealed declines in neurocognitive function of migraineurs in verbal memory (ρ=.045), visual memory (ρ=.041), and reaction time (ρ<.001) at 24 hours. When compared to non-migraine controls MANOVA tests revealed a main effect for group x time for visual memory (ρ=.036), motor processing speed (ρ=.044) and reaction time (ρ=.002) composite scores. Post hoc Univariate ANOVAs revealed that migraineurs experienced the largest declines between baseline and 24 hours with verbal memory (ρ=.005), visual memory (ρ=.001) motor processing speed (ρ=.003) and reaction time (ρ=.002) worse than controls. Reaction time (ρ=.028) and motor processing speed (ρ=.022) remained impaired at 48 hours, and motor processing speed (ρ=.009) was significantly impaired at 7 days. Physical activity levels did not significantly affect neurocognitive function in migraine or non-migraine groups (ρ-values range 0.232-0.933). Females reported higher pain levels than males (ρ=.028). Sleep, exercise, and type of medication did not significantly affect neurocognitive function scores in migraineurs. Physical activity levels significantly decreased the HIT (Headache Impact Test) overall scores (ρ=.020) with results approaching significance in both migraineurs (ρ=.080) and non-migraineurs (ρ=.094).

Conclusively, migraineurs neurocognitive function is affected in the postdromal phase of migraine, with cognitive decline reversible within a few days of onset. Physical activity had no impact on neurocognitive function scores; however, collegiate students who performed physical activity rated their HIT scores lower than those not physically active. Further research is warranted to determine the degree of cognitive deficits the general population may incur after a migraine, and ways to minimize postdromal effects.