Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2025

3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
Multisensory Hallucinatory Experiences in Migraine: A Preliminary Basis for Olfactory, Somatic-Tactile, and Gustatory
Wei Lin Toh1, Caitlin O Yolland1, Yixuan Li1
1Centre for Mental Health & Brain Sciences (WLT, COY, YL, SR), Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; and University Medical Center Groningen (IES), University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Background And Objectives:
Visual auras in migraine have been extensively studied, but less is known about unusual experiences in other sensory domains, including whether they should be diagnostically considered as part of aura symptoms. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of multisensory aura experiences in migraine and their phenomenologic and clinical correlates.
Methods:
Respondents were 729 participants with probable migraine, who completed an online study examining unusual sensory experiences. These comprised aura experiences in the auditory, visual, olfactory, somatic-tactile, and gustatory domains. Basic demographic and clinical information and migraine symptomatology were also collected. To facilitate groupwise comparisons, participants with probable migraine were divided into those with and without (visual) aura experiences.
Results:
Endorsement of visual aura experiences was the highest (42.1%), whether in a single modality (44.2%) or multiple (55.8%) modalities, followed by somatic-tactile (32.0%), gustatory (21.9%), olfactory (18.6%), and auditory (11.0%) domains. Phenomenologic similarities, for instance, in frequency, personification, and controllability, existed across sensory domains. Somatic-tactile and gustatory auras conversely exhibited greater duration and negative emotional valence. Participants with probable migraine with visual aura tended to report significantly more severe migraine symptoms relative to those with nonvisual or no aura.
Discussion:
Our findings provide preliminary indication that unusual olfactory, somatic-tactile, and gustatory experiences in migraine are common and could be clinically significant as aura symptoms. Increased clinician and patient awareness and effective management of these symptoms are essential for a holistic therapeutic approach to migraine.
Related Concept Videos
Synesthesia
Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure
Taste Buds and Receptors
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Introduction to Special Senses
Gustation

