OCtober 25, 2025
Aura is a set of short-lived warning symptoms that some people experience before a migraine attack or during it. It is linked to temporary changes in the activity of nerve cells in the brain.
Aura usually lasts 5–60 minutes and passes completely. Its most common form is visual changes. For example, bright lights, zigzag lines, shimmering images or “blind spots” in the field of vision appear in front of the person's eyes.
Sometimes during an aura there may be numbness, tingling or weakness on one side of the body, difficulty speaking or trouble finding words.
Aura is not dangerous, but it shows that a migraine attack has begun. In other words, it is the body's signal saying “watch out, a migraine is coming”. Once the aura has passed, the typical migraine headache usually begins.
In short, aura is a brief but fully reversible functional disturbance in the brain, and it is part of the migraine itself.