Patients often describe bright, shimmering lights around objects or at the right or left edges of their field of vision. This is known as scintillating scotoma. It may gradually enlarge to occupy the entire field of vision. Some patients feel as if they cannot see. Others experience patterns of zigzag lines or images.
Some patients experience bizarre hallucinations.
This may start in one location and spread throughout the body. Other auras include motor weakness, speech or language abnormalities, dizziness, vertigo, and abdominal symptoms. The headache that follows an aura is similar to a migraine without aura, though a higher proportion of patients with aura have the headache on just one side of the head. This is sometimes seen in patients who have a history of migraine with aura, and may occur after age 40. It is sometimes known as a migraine equivalent.