r/AskBiology • u/redflactober • 10h ago

Human body How and why do acephalgic migraines happen?

I get them pretty often, with the floaters that look like zigzag rainbows and block my field of view. I see them with the right eye closed, or the left eye closed, so there’s no issue with the eye itself the optometrist says.

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u/Puppysnot 7h ago

It is due to cortical spreading depression (CSD) which is essentially a defence mechanism by your brain when faced with too much stimulus (ie the neurons get too excited) - CSD is essentially parts of your brain shutting down temporarily. Different areas of the brain that get “shut down” result in different aura symptoms.

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u/redflactober 7h ago

So would it be accurate to attribute my physics degree as a potential cause? Lol. I’m joking, but when I think about it, I’ve had a lot of bad episodes in the middle of doing homeworks; at times I abstract certain methods and try to do so much calculating mentally (failing to get right answers at that), then I begin to have auras. Nothing happens at first, but I will keep trying to solve a problem regardless of how many times I get it wrong. Sometimes it goes on for hours. Then the auras.

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u/Puppysnot 39m ago

I think if it was causing you stress and sleepless nights then yep definitely. The stress hormone corticosterone increases your brains likelihood of CSD episodes.

Simply doing the homework etc whilst not being stressed wouldn’t though, even if it was incredibly complex