Uni explores link between migraines and hallucinations

A team of Lancashire scientists have embarked on a mission to better understand why people who have migraines often develop strong hallucinations and distortions in the brain.

The study, led by neuroscientist Jason Braithwaite at Lancaster University, aims to find out more about those who have hallucinations, which appears to be due to the brain becoming "overloaded" with information.

Braithwaite said the most fascinating part about the study was that many people will have hallucinations, officially called "visual aura", without realising they are having a migraine.

"Quite often people will go quite far through their lives without realising that these occasional experiences they're having are actually part of having a migraine," he said.

The doctor hopes his research could one day shape more tailored coping strategies for those affected by strong migraines.

Braithwaite and his team are 12 months into a four-year study on the topic, and have so far been pleased with their progress.

"It's going very well and we're recruiting very well. You'll be amazed the number of people that come and report strange visual experiences," he said.

"Many of our students say they've been living with them for a number of years and we chat about them and learn a great deal about these types of experiences.

"An important objective is to understand why individual brains respond differently to identical sensory stimulation, potentially providing a foundation for more effective and personalised approaches."

The research employs a phenomenon known as "pattern glare", in which particular visual patterns can trigger striking perceptual disturbances, including illusory movement, shimmering, flickering, phantoms and strange colours

The team then conduct electric brain simulations on their test subjects.

With help from a laboratory based in Barcelona, a detailed 3D scan of the brain is created, helping to show where parts of the organ are most reactive or sensitive by shooting weak electric currents at different parts of the scalp.

The team also want to learn more about how hallucinations differ from person to person when having migraines.

The most common aura, Braithwaite said, is when things in front of you start to bend and straighten while sometimes a coloured halo can appear.

"They can start out as distortions like flickering or shimmering that you may see. You'll see this out in the world, of course it's being driven by the brain, but you'll see it superimposed out there on the world," he said.

A fortification hallucination however is "diagnostic" of a migraine, Braithwaite said, and one that precedes a migraine.

"You see lots of zigzag shapes pulsating and rotating in your visual field," he continued.

"Now to an experienced migraine, when this starts to happen, if you also get the headache, you know you're going to be getting a headache within one to three hours time.

"So patients that have grown up with this know it's a warning sign and can often take aversive action," he said.

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