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Updated: Apr 30, 2026
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3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
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The relation between migraine, typical migraine aura and "visual snow"
Christoph J Schankin1, Farooq H Maniyar, Till Sprenger
1Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Headache Group, NIHR-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, King's College London, London, UK; Department of Neurology, University of Munich Hospital - Großhadern, Munich, Germany.
Headache
|May 13, 2014
Summary
Migraine exacerbates visual snow symptoms, including tinnitus and visual disturbances. Brain imaging reveals hypermetabolism in the lingual gyrus, supporting visual snow syndrome as a distinct neurological condition.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
- Neurology
Background:
- Visual snow syndrome is characterized by constant, static-like visual disturbances.
- Patients often experience additional visual symptoms like palinopsia, photophobia, and nyctalopia, alongside tinnitus.
- The high comorbidity with migraine and typical migraine aura suggests a potential link, challenging previous notions of psychogenic causes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the clinical relationship between visual snow syndrome, migraine, and typical migraine aura.
- To identify potential brain imaging markers associated with visual snow syndrome.
Main Methods:
- Prospective semi-structured interviews assessed symptom prevalence and correlations in 120 visual snow patients.
- Positron emission tomography (PET) with [(18)F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose was used to identify brain hypermetabolism in 17 visual snow patients compared to controls.
Main Results:
- Comorbid migraine significantly increased the likelihood of palinopsia, photopsia, photophobia, nyctalopia, and tinnitus in visual snow patients.
- Typical migraine aura was associated with increased spontaneous photopsia.
- Brain imaging revealed hypermetabolism in the right lingual gyrus and left cerebellar anterior lobe in visual snow patients.
Conclusions:
- Comorbid migraine worsens the clinical presentation of visual snow syndrome.
- Visual snow syndrome appears to be a distinct condition, with entoptic phenomena independent of migraine.
- Brain dysfunction, specifically lingual gyrus hypermetabolism, is confirmed in visual snow patients, suggesting shared pathophysiological mechanisms with migraine.
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