Migraine Aura: What Your Brain Wants You To Do

If you have ever experienced a migraine aura, you know how unsettling it is. One moment everything looks normal. Then part of your vision fills with moving geometric shapes, jagged flashing lines, or a strange shimmer that seems to move across your visual field. It is alarming, especially the first time.

What makes a migraine aura so hard to deal with is that most people have no idea what is happening in the brain, or what to do about it. Reaching for a pill and powering through is the instinct in our performance driven culture. But it turns out to be one of the worst things you can do.

Dr. Amelia Barrett is a Stanford-trained neurologist who has spent years digging into the root causes of migraines from a functional medicine perspective rather than just managing the symptoms. She explained the biology behind migraine aura and what you can actually do about it.

What Is a Migraine Aura?

A migraine aura is a neurological event that typically occurs before the headache pain begins, though not everyone who gets migraines gets one. Some people only ever experience the visual disturbances with no pain at all. This is referred to as an ocular migraine.

The most common migraine aura experience involves sudden visual changes that start subtly, almost like the slight off-ness you get after staring at something very bright. From there, flashing geometric shapes or jagged lines develop, usually off to one side of your visual field.

A migraine aura typically lasts around fifteen minutes and fully resolves within an hour. Covering one eye does not make it go away, because it is happening in the brain, not in the eye itself.

Migraine vs. Headache: What Is the Difference?

Not every bad headache is a migraine. Migraines tend to be one-sided, throbbing, and noticeably worse with physical movement, even something as small as bending over to pick something up. Nausea, light sensitivity or sound sensitivity are also common.

The American Migraine Foundation estimates that only about 5 percent of people who actually have migraines have ever been formally diagnosed. So if you have been managing what you thought were bad headaches, and you also get those strange visual disturbances, it is quite likely you have been dealing with migraines without realizing that it was more than a headache.

Why a Migraine Aura Happens: What Is Going On in the Brain

A migraine aura is a failure of energy supply in the brain. Your brain cells are constantly working to keep ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium in the right places. The support cells of the brain store energy as glycogen, a form of glucose. When that glycogen runs out, those ion channels can no longer do their job.

Think of it as an ice cream cone melting. The brain simply loses its ability to hold things together, and the migraine aura begins. Dr. Barrett describes it as the brain running out of juice.

Anything that places a heavy demand on the brain can trigger this. Physical exertion, bright lights, loud noise, prolonged screen time, and emotional stress can all deplete that energy reserve and bring on a migraine aura. It is not one cause. It is cumulative demand that outpaces supply.

Eye and head tension is one factor that often gets overlooked. If that sounds familiar, this post on how tight muscles affect your vision goes into more depth on what is happening and what to do about it.

What to Do the Moment a Migraine Aura Starts

Most people reach for pain meds as soon as a migraine aura alerts them of the headache coming and want to stay functional. Dr. Barrett says that response is understandable, but it works against the brain at exactly the wrong moment.

Your brain is already out of energy in that moment. Adding any more demand, including the cognitive effort of pushing through your day, makes it harder for the brain to recover. The number one step is to shut down completely.

Here is what to do when the migraine aura starts:

• Lie down in a dark, quiet space immediately.
• Use a loose eye mask if it’s bright.
• Turn off all screens and remove all light and noise if possible (ear plugs can help)
• Do slow, deep breathing to bring your nervous system into parasympathetic mode.
• Try a guided yoga nidra meditation to support the relaxation process.
• Give your brain at least 30 minutes of total, uninterrupted rest.

After the migraine aura has resolved, drink quality electrolytes with sodium, calcium, and potassium. Follow that with a balanced meal containing protein, healthy fats, and a small amount of complex carbohydrates. Avoid sugar, caffeine or alcohol. Stable blood sugar is part of recovery.

The 4 Biological Systems Behind Migraine Aura

Research on over 100,000 people with migraines found that one of four biological systems is typically struggling in people who experience migraines. For people who have it severely, more than one system is involved. Understanding which one applies to you is what makes a real difference.

• Brain chemistry. Neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA regulate how stable the brain stays. Some people simply do not make enough GABA, a key calming chemical. When these are out of balance, the brain is more prone to the kind of overfiring that causes aura and pain.
• Inflammation. Often the connection between food sensitivities and migraines. Gluten sensitivity has a genetic basis, and people prone to migraines have a higher rate of immune responses to gluten. Inflammation can also fluctuate with gut health, stress, and antibiotic use. Another trigger can be lactose, even if you don’t have gut issues after consuming dairy products.
• Energy production. The mitochondria inside your cells produce the energy your brain depends on. Poor sleep, chronic stress, and artificial light disrupt this, depleting the reserves needed to prevent an aura from developing. By the way, no other cell in our body consumes more energy than the retinal cells in the eyes. And they are part of your brain!
• Blood flow. How well blood vessels regulate flow in and out of the brain affects whether the brain gets the nutrients it needs to function. Disrupted blood flow is linked to both the aura phase and the pain phase.

Blood sugar and metabolic health are closely tied to all four of these systems. Read more about how metabolic health affects your eyesight and why it matters more than most people realize.

Sleep, Nervous System Regulation, and Magnesium

Regardless of which biological system is struggling, three things help almost everyone dealing with migraines and aura.

Sleep is the most important one. Deep sleep is how the brain rebuilds its glycogen stores. Without consistent, quality sleep, the brain starts each day already running low on the energy it needs to prevent an aura from developing. Use a tracking device to check your deep sleep state duration. Dr. Barrett uses the Oura ring to track her sleep (and so do I!)

Nervous system regulation is the second piece. Some people are genetically wired to respond to stress at a much higher intensity than others. Their stress-related genes fire harder. Telling them to just relax is not helpful. What they need are real tools: slow breathing, gentle daily movement, and consistent practices that give the nervous system a chance to come down.

For a deeper look at the specific practices that help, read Nervous System Regulation for Clear Vision.

The third is magnesium glycinate. Dr. Barrett recommends 400 to 500 milligrams per day for anyone dealing with migraines or aura. It is well absorbed and specifically good at calming the kind of brain overfiring involved in migraine. If you have been using a product with multiple forms of magnesium and your goal is stopping aura and pain, glycinate alone will serve you better.

For people who also struggle with brain fog or difficulty thinking clearly, magnesium threonate is a useful addition. It supports brain recovery and cognition. Many people take glycinate in the evening and threonate in the morning.

BDNF, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, the brain’s key healing protein, also matters here. Deep sleep, zone 2 cardio like walking or gardening, and magnesium threonate all help stimulate it. For people who have had a brain injury or concussion and have not recovered fully, this pathway is often part of why. For them adding in magnesium threonate is really important.

Dr. Barrett also recommends a multi vitamin to cover your bases with all nutrients needed for brain health.

Where to Go From Here

Migraines and aura are not the same for everyone, and what works for one person may not work for another. The most useful thing you can do is find out which biological system is struggling for you, then build a protocol around that.

Dr. Amelia Barrett offers a free headache quiz at headachequiz.com. It connects you with resources specific to your situation and is a solid first step.

And if screen time is a regular part of your day, these 5 Quick Effective Eye Strain Hacks can help you reduce the daily demand on your brain before it becomes a trigger.

Watch the episode of Migraine Aura Symptoms: What Your Brain Is Warning You About — And What to Do