Cognitive functions in patients with vestibular migraine: Is there any difference from patients with migraine headaches only?

Background The vestibular system contributes significantly to cognitive processes. Our study aims to detect the possible differences in cognitive function between patients with vestibular migraine (VM) and patients with migraine headaches only (MO). Methods This was a cross-sectional study. The participants took a number of tests during the same session: Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Stroop Test (ST), Digit Span Test (DST), Oktem Verbal Memory Process Test (OVMPT), Verbal and Nonverbal Cancellation Tests, Benton’s Judgment Of Line Orientation Test (BJLOT), Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT), Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), and Trail Making Test (TMT), in addition to Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results There were 97 participants (VM = 34, MO = 31, HC = 32), matched for age, sex, and education. Both patient groups had higher BAI scores than controls ( p < 0.001). Both patients with VM and patients with MO performed worse than healthy controls on the Stroop tasks, DSFT, and DSBT ( p < 0.05 for all tasks, except Stroop Task 3 in the MO group), but no significant differences were observed between the VM and MO groups ( p > 0.05). In the multivariable analyses, Stroop performance remained significantly worse in patients with VM, while DSFT and DSBT performance remained significantly worse in patients with MO ( p < 0.05). In addition, both patient groups showed significantly worse performance on the TMT-B compared with controls ( p < 0.05). Conclusion In conclusion, our study showed that attention, working memory, and spatial cognitive functions were affected in patients with VM. However, no overall cognitive differences were identified between patients with VM and patients with MO.