Transient Neurologic Dysfunction in Migraine

Neurologic symptoms are a prominent and often disturbing component of the migraine syndrome in many patients. Collectively termed “aura,” migraine-related neurologic symptoms include visual, sensory, language, and motor disturbance. They occur in about one quarter of migraine patients, are classically transient, and are thought to occur as the result of cortical phenomena. Recently, motor symptoms previously included as a type of migraine aura have been reclassified as a component of hemiplegic migraine-a distinct migraine subtype. The tendency to aura is likely to be influenced by complex genetic and perhaps epigenetic factors.