Synesthesia and Migraine: Case Report

Abstract

Background: Synesthesia is, as visual migraine aura, a common and fascinating perceptual phenomenon. Here we present a unique case with synesthesias exclusively during visual migraine auras.Case presentation: A 40-year-old woman with a cyclic mood disorder had suffered from migraine with visual aura for several years. On several occasions she had experienced "mixing of senses" during the aura phase. Staring at strong bright light she could experience intense taste of lemon with flow from the salivary glands.Conclusion: Acquired synesthesia, exclusively coincident with migraine aura, gives support to the idea of an anomalous cortical processing underlying the phenomenon. © 2010 Alstadhaug and Benjaminsen; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.