My son has a rare migraine disorder. It manifested when he was 1 month old. He gets horrible migraines, vertigo and cyclic vomitting because of it. I suffered from migraines as a young child. I didn't have his disorder but it is hereditary. Many thing giftedness is as well.
Interestingly when my son had a spinal tap to look at neurotransmitter levels (while the neurologists were trying to determine his diagnosis) they found him to have low dopamine and serotonin levels. Lately a lot of research has been done about serotonin and it's link to migraines.
On this blog a few months ago I came across someone posting the New York Times article on prodigies. It mentioned they have seen a link of low dopamine/serotonin levels in the brains of prodigies. They didn't give a reason why.
It caught my eye because of my son's condition. Anyways he was recently tested 160+ iq. My daughter did not inherit the same migraine disorder and while she is very intelligent she is nothing like her brother in his extreme abilities. I often wonder if the migraine issue with him was another way his brain is wired different.
However it all could be genetics. My Brother and Father have both been tested 140+ Iq but neither suffered migraines. It ran more with the females in the family.
