Migraines may be painful, but new research suggests they don’t actually damage your brain.

Scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston looked at data from more than 6,000 women migraine sufferers age 45 or older.

Follow-up tests that checked cognitive function found no significant difference between women who experienced migraines and those with no history of them.

Scientists still don’t know exactly why people get migraines.

Some estimates say that up to 25 per cent of Canadian women and 10 per cent of men experience the neurological condition.