Trigger warning: Flashing lights and aura simulation
This week’s goal was to focus on investigating more about the visual part of an aura and whether there is a way to simulate aura.
The German pain clinic in Kiel developed an aura simulator for users to experience what an aura could look like. Their app needs access to th phone’s camera, and gradually the flickering zigzag-shaped flashes, streaks and veils appear at the edge of the field of the user’s vision.
“Many patients who experience a migraine with aura for the first time are unsettled and do not know what this enormous restriction in the field of vision means. A problem with the eyes or even a stroke is often suspected,” says Professor Dr. Hartmut Göbel from the Kiel Pain Clinic.
The idea behind is to identify and understand auras, to distinguish them from other visual disorders and to treat them specifically.
Below you can take a look yourself at one of the simulations. This one takes place on a highway while driving.
This simulation includes a rapid expansion of the aura. When comparing it to mine I would say that it expands in a faster way and blocks more of my vision. The flickering is also faster and more intense in my case:
Aura is considered to be a hallucinatory experience that usually lasts between five minutes and one hour. The hallucinations from the aura occur on one side, both eyes or on the same side as the headache pain.
Language and motor auras are less frequently observed. Patients affected by these kind of auras experience difficulties with finding words, dysphasia, or limb or facial weakness.
When I looked a bit deeper into the topic I found following temporary symptoms some migraineurs also experience:
- Hearing ringing in the ears or other noises
- Hearing loss
- Tingling feeling in one hand or on one side of the face that may spread slowly along an arm or leg and may turn into numbness
- Numbness or tingling of the tongue or mouth
- Speech or language difficulty
- Inability to move part of the body
- Muscle weakness
Benefits of aura simulation
But what are the advantages of simulating aura? Like illustrations of visual aura they can be helpful to distiniguish migraine from other disorders e.g. epilespy and diagnose it correctly. Besides, visualizing migraine symptoms is a helpful tool for raising awareness toward this disease and reducing the stigma. Since it is socially devaluated it has been found to be useful to make such a complex disease observable so that more people are educated.
During my previous studies I have had some touch points with virtual reality and I can imagine a simulation in VR to be quite effective to simulate the aura in a more accurate way. Next week, I would like to investigate if there is existing research on this topic!
Individual experience
I myself, have always struggled to put aura into words and to describe it in a way that a person that has never experienced it would be able to imagine it. When comparing my experience with other migraineurs I have realized that there definetely are similiarities but it tends to be an individual experience. This could be an interesting survey or interview question in following research including other migraineur’s perspective.
Next week – Outlook
Thanks to Stefanie Egger, the lecturer of Project Work- Design Research I was able to connect with a journalist who has chronic migraine and combines science with art while raising awareness about migraine. Since I am still investigating about the neurological disorder and I am still trying to define problems and eventually ideate possible solutions I see our online-meeting as a great opportunity to identify a focus for my research and learn from someone who is affected but also pro-actively doing something for the visibility of migraine.
References:
- Sutherland, H. G., & Griffiths, L. R. (2017). Genetics of Migraine: Insights into the Molecular Basis of Migraine Disorders. Headache, 57(4), 537–569. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.13053
- O’Hare, L., Asher, J. M., & Hibbard, P. B. (2021). Migraine Visual Aura and Cortical Spreading Depression-Linking Mathematical Models to Empirical Evidence. Vision (Basel, Switzerland), 5(2), 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/vision5020030
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-with-aura/symptoms-causes/syc-20352072
Videos:
