Background: Migraine is a prevalent episodic brain disorder known for recurrent attacks of unilateral headaches, accompanied by complaints of photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, and vomiting. Two main categories of migraine are migraine with aura (MA) and migraine without aura (MO). Main body: Early twin and population studies have shown a genetic basis for these disorders, and efforts have been invested since to discern the genes involved. Many techniques, including candidate-gene association studies, loci linkage studies, genome-wide association, and transcription studies, have been used for this goal. As a result, several genes were pinned with concurrent and conflicting data among studies. It is important to understand the evolution of techniques and their findings. Conclusions: This review provides a chronological understanding of the different techniques used from the dawn of migraine genetic investigations and the genes linked with the migraine subtypes.