I relate to Hubert Airy's 1870 illustration, my own scintillating scotoma look very similar. Bolts of lightning, block parts of my vision, usually happens after high concentration or stress. Fascinating article, thank you for the insight.
Despite them being disturbing while they happen, I have at times been fascinated by the patterns of migraine auras. Similarly, as a kid, I would (maybe too often) press against my eyes to produce spiralling checkerboard phosphene patterns. It was seeing a glimpse of a world within, delicate but complexly lacing its way across my regular sight.
The Oliver Sacks Migraine book includes a pretty fascinating addendum on the "hallucinatory constants" that occur across migraine, epilepsy, psychedelic experiences and sensory deprivation, among other altered states—phosphenes are common, as are lattices and chessboards, spirals, tunnels, crystallizations, and cobwebs. There seems to be an underlying tendency towards "geometrization" in the brain! To quote Sacks (again) hallucinatory displays show us "an entire self-organizing system, a universal behavior at work...not only the secrets of neuronal organization, but the creative heart of Nature itself" 🤯
Definitely weird the first time you have one. I thought I was having a stroke. I've gotten to where I ignore them. It seems like they go away quicker. I feel like sometimes I can cause them if I glance at something shiny out of the corner of my eye
You might enjoy Kustaa Saksi's recent work - he embroids his migraines in jacquard tapestries and the results are stunning: https://kustaasaksi.com/First-Symptoms. His work also includes clever and interesting uses of AI.
The exhibition In the Borderlands was in Design Museum in Helsinki, but hopefully will travel far!
I had this about a year ago and had never heard of it. Thanks for the post and Sacks reference!
I relate to Hubert Airy's 1870 illustration, my own scintillating scotoma look very similar. Bolts of lightning, block parts of my vision, usually happens after high concentration or stress. Fascinating article, thank you for the insight.
Same for me—a jagged backwards "C" shape that distorts my vision. My vision will go blurry and unfocused for a little while afterwards too.
Despite them being disturbing while they happen, I have at times been fascinated by the patterns of migraine auras. Similarly, as a kid, I would (maybe too often) press against my eyes to produce spiralling checkerboard phosphene patterns. It was seeing a glimpse of a world within, delicate but complexly lacing its way across my regular sight.
The Oliver Sacks Migraine book includes a pretty fascinating addendum on the "hallucinatory constants" that occur across migraine, epilepsy, psychedelic experiences and sensory deprivation, among other altered states—phosphenes are common, as are lattices and chessboards, spirals, tunnels, crystallizations, and cobwebs. There seems to be an underlying tendency towards "geometrization" in the brain! To quote Sacks (again) hallucinatory displays show us "an entire self-organizing system, a universal behavior at work...not only the secrets of neuronal organization, but the creative heart of Nature itself" 🤯
Definitely weird the first time you have one. I thought I was having a stroke. I've gotten to where I ignore them. It seems like they go away quicker. I feel like sometimes I can cause them if I glance at something shiny out of the corner of my eye
V. interesting to note the 3mm/min expansion rate.
The most accurate representation of the effect I've so far found is this : https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52c72a97e4b0cd104df2c3f2/1427984645475-CZ6ZB5QPVORVE8QAHPGD/image-asset.png
I too get the backwards C... Starts as a bright, blind spot, then expands to the C.
You might enjoy Kustaa Saksi's recent work - he embroids his migraines in jacquard tapestries and the results are stunning: https://kustaasaksi.com/First-Symptoms. His work also includes clever and interesting uses of AI.
The exhibition In the Borderlands was in Design Museum in Helsinki, but hopefully will travel far!
Wow, I love this, thanks for sharing! Added to my Scintillating Scotoma Are.na channel too :)
https://www.are.na/claire-l-evans/scintillating-scotoma