Neurology and Psychiatry,

Abstract Several neurophysiological techniques are available for examin-ing children with headache. The choice among them is made accord-ing to clinical features. Electroencephalography (EEG) is commonly performed in headache; abnormalities observed are heteroge-neous, and specific patterns have been described in different forms of complicated migraine. Quantitative EEG, brain mapping and spectral analysis are at present useful mainly for research purposes and in migraine diagnosis. Polysomnography studies are just at the beginning but they have been providing interesting findings. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) have demonstrated conflicting results: increased amplitudes observed in migraine children need to be repli-cated and methodological flaws need to be corrected. Event-related poten-tials (ERPs) have been used to shed light on cognitive processes related to migraine during development of the nervous system. Electromyography studies have doc-umented increased spontaneous mus-cle activity in tension-type headache, but further studies are awaited. Overall, clinical neurophysiology is of primary interest in studying func-tional mechanisms of headache and migraine symptoms. In clinical prac-tice, these procedures are not essen-tial for diagnosis but are relevant for clarifying specific problems. Key words Childhood headache