There is an accumulating body of evidence suggesting that the periaqueductal grey (PAG) is involved in the
pathophysiology of migraine. Positron emission tomography (PET) studies in humans have shown that the
caudal ventrolateral midbrain, encompassing the ventrolateral PAG, has activations during migraine attacks.
The PAG may well be involved not only through the descending modulation of nociceptive afferent
information, but also by its ascending projections to the pain processing centres of the thalamus. In this
study the intranuclear oncogene protein Fos was used to mark cell activation in the PAG following
stimulation of the trigeminally-innervated superior sagittal sinus (SSS) in both cats and in nonhuman
primates (Macaca nemestrina). Fos expression in the PAG increased following stimulation to a median of
242 cells (interquartile range 236–272) in the cat and 155 cells (range 104–203) in the monkey, compared
with control levels of 35 cells (21–50) and 26 cells (18–33), respectively. Activation was predominantly in the
ventrolateral area of the caudal PAG suggesting that the PAG is involved following trigeminally-evoked
craniovascular pain.