Now on ScienceBlogs: Another contender for the worst reporting ever: "Coma man"
Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC getting a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. He holds a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. If a volcano were to erupt Pompei-style in Central Park, his body would be preserved in a scoliotic posture over his lab desk. Archeaologists would later conclude that he spent most of his day training rats to perform tricks, until he went blind building electrical equipment by hand using a dissecting microscope. But, still, he died happy...because science is cool.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision-making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments I currently attend or attended in the past.
« McCain cites "strong evidence" that thiomerosal causes autism | Main | Weeds in the Sidewalk Show Rapid Evolution »
Category: Art • Neurological disease
Posted on: March 4, 2008 11:29 AM, by NotoriousLTP
The NYTimes has a slide show of "migraine" art provided by Oliver Sacks from his book Migraine. They attempt to illustrate what a migraine aura looks like.
Neat. I would put one up on my wall if I didn't feel so horrible that it was the pictorial prelude to someone's intense pain.
Share this: Facebook Twitter Stumbleupon Reddit Email + More
Find more posts in: 
Brain & Behavior
Greg Laden's Blog 11.24.2009
The World's Fair 11.24.2009
Effect Measure 11.24.2009
Starts With a Bang 11.23.2009
ERV 11.23.2009
Comments
The first time I opened Sacks' book, I dropped it. The pictures were familiar.
Posted by: T. Kordas | March 4, 2008 12:51 PM
It's hard for me to look at these. Even thinking about what my pre-migraine aura looks like makes me start to feel ill.
Posted by: Davis | March 4, 2008 1:53 PM
So now we know where Cubism came from...
Posted by: Lassi Hippeläinen | March 4, 2008 2:18 PM
I always wondered what other people's auras looked like. Mine are different from these--enough similarity to recognize a few, though.
Posted by: Anon | March 4, 2008 2:26 PM
Very interesting. I found some of the images familiar and others merely suggestive. I have suffered migraines, but after a particularly bad one (for me - my mother and my brother both had much worse) I have never actually had the headache. I get fairly frequently get a blind spot, then the aura, and then perhaps a mild headache unless I take ibuprofen. But the next day I have what I call a hangover. Not every aura is followed by a headache, and not every migraine is preceded by an aura. The other interesting thing is that although migraines usually decrease with age, my auras have, if anything, increased with age.
Posted by: Mark P | March 4, 2008 3:25 PM