Migraines and Auras

If you are one of the one-third of migraine sufferers who experience aura before or during migraine, you know how strange this phenomenon can feel. Auras may include visual disturbances (jagged lines with bright spots or flashes); temporary, partial vision loss; numbness; and tingling sensations.

Scientists have speculated about the migraine aura for years, but until recently, they didn't have the tools to study brain activity during a migraine attack. Technology such as functional magnetic resonance imagery has allowed researchers to trigger migraines in patients and see waves of altered electrical activity spreading across the brain during an aura. Experts believe that different areas of the brain are stimulated as these waves cross the brain, causing the symptoms of aura. Researchers have theorized that the reason why only some people with migraine have auras is that their brain is overly sensitive to certain triggers.