Both systemic Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide (CGRP) and a vestibular challenge promote anxiety-related behaviors and dynamic imbalance in mice.

Anxiety is very common in patients with dizziness and vestibular migraine (VM). As in migraine, elevated CGRP levels have been linked to anxiety behaviors. We wondered if a systemic injection of CGRP into mice would increase anxiety and imbalance; and if mice further exposed to a vestibular stimulus would have their anxiety measures sharpened. We observed a female preponderance in both CGRP and motion-induced anxiety-like behaviors, suggesting that the role of CGRP in migraine's anxiety symptoms can be recapitulated in the mouse. Our findings suggest that CGRP signaling has a pertinent role in motion-induced anxiety and dynamic imbalance, and warrants the potential use of anti-CGRP therapies for the treatment of these symptoms.