K.C. Brennan, MD, is a clinician scientist who specializes in the treatment of headache. disorders. His lab studies the basic mechanisms of migraine and post-traumatic headache.

Optical and electrophysiological investigation of the basic mechanisms of migraine

Dr. Brennan's laboratory studies derangements of brain excitability. A particular interest is cortical spreading depression (CSD), a wave of runaway excitation that is thought to be the basis of the migraine aura. CSD is also involved in traumatic brain injury, stroke, and epilepsy.

The lab uses a combination of techniques including optical intrinsic signal imaging and spectroscopy, voltage sensitive dye imaging, two-photon microscopy, and electrophysiology to study CSD and the disorders it affects.