Thanks to your support, Dr. Goadsby, Dr. Puledda and their team at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience are making significant progress in understanding Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS).
In King’s College’s 2025 annual report, they highlight Dr. Puledda’s recent breakthrough in discovering the biological basis of VSS. This groundbreaking research, supported by your generosity, has a profound impact on all those living with VSS, offering hope for a better understanding and more effective treatments.
Since our last report in April 2024, Ms. Viviana Santoro, a PhD student, has begun working under Dr. Puledda and Professor Goadsby’s supervision on this research project, funded by VSI. The focus of this research is to use advanced neurophysiology to unravel the electrical signature of Visual Snow Syndrome in the brain.
Dr. Puledda and her team have also conducted interim analyses of the collected data, revealing some very promising preliminary results in identifying biomarkers of cortical connectivity and neuronal metabolism that characterize VSS.
By expanding on previous imaging work, this objective focuses on analyzing changes in cortical metabolism (through proton spectroscopy) and the functional connectivity of visual areas (using layer-specific functional MRI). This approach allows us to infer the altered mechanisms of sensory processing and visual perception that underlie the disorder.
Another key objective is to provide novel insights into the neurophysiological changes in the visual snow brain and how these differ from migraine biology. Non-invasive neurophysiology techniques can help to untangle the neural networks behind pathological brain function. Little research has been done on this aspect of Visual Snow Syndrome, so this objective, primarily achieved through advanced electrophysiological techniques (TMS/EEG, high-density EEG, and visual evoked potentials), will allow further investigation of cortical excitability in VSS. It will also help us distinguish its neurophysiological fingerprint from that of comorbid migraine biology.
Through your generous investment, we have already made important discoveries about VSS and are continuing to explore its unknown biology. We have also helped make King’s College London one of the leading centers for Visual Snow Syndrome research worldwide.
We look forward to discussing further opportunities to collaborate on essential VSS research and make continued progress toward improving the quality of life for people living with this disorder.
