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Does the migraine aura reflect cortical organization?
Author(s) -
Dahlem M. A.,
Engelmann R.,
Löwel S.,
Müller S. C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1460-9568.2000.00995.x
Subject(s) - visual cortex , illusion , aura , neuroscience , orientation (vector space) , perception , migraine , cortex (anatomy) , optical illusion , psychology , cognitive psychology , mathematics , geometry , psychiatry
Individuals suffering from classical migraine report an astonishing diversity of migraine auras. A frequently reported symptom is a visual hallucination known as fortification illusion (FI). Here we demonstrate that the typical zig‐zag pattern of the FI can be reproduced using experimental data of orientation maps of the primary visual cortex (V1) assuming that a continuous excitation front propagates across V1. We put forward a model in which the cortical neurons within this excitation wave are activated sufficiently to contribute to conscious perception. It is shown that the discontinuous repetitive nature of the zig‐zag pattern of the FI can reflect the specific layout of visual cortical orientation maps. Additionally, dynamic features of the FI are predicted based on our model.