Clock and threshold
The hypothalamus is strongly implicated by attack timing, sleep association and bout periodicity.
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Interactive anatomy
Cluster headache, lit from the inside.
Follow the one-sided attack circuit through the hypothalamus, trigeminal system, brainstem reflex loop, cranial autonomic pathway and orbital pain field.
Clock trigger
Cluster attacks often show circadian and seasonal timing, implicating hypothalamic clock biology as part of the attack threshold.
Drag to rotate. Tap a sequence step to isolate the pathway.
The circuit
A cluster attack is not just pain. It is a timed autonomic event.
Trigeminal activation
Signals converge through the trigeminal system, producing severe unilateral orbital, supraorbital or temporal pain.
Brainstem relay
The trigeminal nucleus and superior salivatory nucleus help connect pain input to cranial autonomic output.
Autonomic signs
The sphenopalatine ganglion pathway helps explain tearing, red eye, nasal congestion and rhinorrhoea on the painful side.
Structures shown
The first version focuses on the structures that make the attack understandable.
Hypothalamus
Clock-linked attack threshold and bout timing.
Trigeminal ganglion
Major sensory hub for facial and cranial pain.
Trigeminal nucleus caudalis
Brainstem relay for nociceptive input.
Superior salivatory nucleus
Parasympathetic relay in the trigeminal-autonomic reflex.
Sphenopalatine ganglion
Autonomic gateway toward eye and nasal symptoms.
Cavernous carotid region
Vascular and trigeminal-autonomic territory near the orbit.
Evidence frame
This is an educational model, not a diagnosis tool.
The visualizer simplifies a complex disease into a navigable circuit. It is based on the established clinical phenotype of cluster headache and the commonly described involvement of the hypothalamus, trigeminovascular system and trigeminal-autonomic reflex.