The Migraine Aura Scan in Brief
A short introduction for those who don't yet have a password but want to know what the MigraineAuraScan — the Aura Anamnesis from the Migraine Aura Foundation — does.
Science blog
Gray Matters
Revised editions of selected posts originally published on the science blogs Gray Matters and Graue Substanz — updated for clarity and today's context.
Migraine Aura Scan: Recognizing the Unrecognized
How the MigraineAuraScan guides patients toward understanding, improves the patient journey, and supports clinical care.
Culture of Optimal Sensory Overload
Visual triggers of epilepsy and migraine are light stimuli optimally tuned to the neural wiring of the cerebral cortex — and they are by no means limited to flickering video games anymore.
Can Light Treat What Light Hurts?
Zigzags, flickers, flashes, and stripe patterns — some visual stimuli can trigger a migraine, others an epileptic seizure. But could they also treat what they provoke? In this three-part series, I explore how visual hallucinations emerge in migraine, why some brains are hypersensitive to light, and whether precisely tuned stimuli might one day offer relief. An unexpected music video sets the stage for some illuminating science.
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Visual perception plays a special role in migraine. Light sensitivity and the visual disturbances that occur during an attack raise an important question: can light also have a positive effect?
The Migraine Zapper
Therapeutic magnetic stimulation for migraine has received widespread attention. One device—a transcranial magnetic stimulator nicknamed the migraine zapper—has been approved by the FDA as an investigational medical device.
Ghost of a Saddle-node Bifurcation
Visual triggers of epilepsy and migraine are light stimuli optimally tuned to the neural wiring of the cerebral cortex — and they are by no means limited to flickering video games anymore.