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Updated: Nov 15, 2025
10:39
3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
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Can you have a migraine aura without knowing it?
Nouchine Hadjikhani1,2, Maurice Vincent3
1Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Current Opinion in Neurology
|March 4, 2021
Summary
Migraine aura symptoms are more diverse than typically recognized, including non-visual experiences. Many migraine aura cases may be underdiagnosed due to their varied and complex presentations.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Migraine with aura is a common neurological disorder.
- Aura symptoms are typically characterized as visual disturbances.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the episodic manifestations and unusual symptoms associated with migraine aura.
- To highlight the variability and potential underdiagnosis of migraine aura.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies on migraine aura.
- Analysis of reported aura types and their prevalence.
Main Results:
- Migraine aura encompasses more than just visual symptoms, including sensory, speech, motor, brainstem, and retinal types.
- Other transient experiences like emotional, olfactory, or auditory symptoms may also be migraine auras.
- A higher prevalence of aura is reported in individuals with professional knowledge, suggesting underdiagnosis in the general population.
Conclusions:
- Migraine aura manifestations are potentially more frequent, complex, and varied than previously understood.
- Clinicians should inquire about non-visual symptoms to improve diagnosis of migraine with aura.
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