Aura (migraine and seizure)

An aura is a set of temporary sensory, visual or other neurological symptoms that precede or accompany a migraine attack or signal the start of a focal seizure.

Migraine aura most often appears as shimmering zigzag lines, blind spots or flickering lights that spread across the visual field over several minutes and resolve within an hour, sometimes followed by tingling in a hand or the face or trouble finding words. A seizure aura is actually the first phase of a focal seizure and may involve a rising sensation in the stomach, a strange smell or taste, deja vu, sudden fear or a feeling that the surroundings are unreal. In both cases the aura reflects a wave of abnormal activity moving across part of the brain.

Neurologists distinguish the two by timing, features and what follows, and migraine with aura is classified separately from migraine without aura because it carries different stroke-risk considerations. Aura is important to recognize because it can serve as a warning window. Cannabinoids have been studied for migraine and for epilepsy, with an approved cannabidiol medicine for specific seizure syndromes, but nothing is approved for aura itself.