Before a seizure begins, some people feel something such as a strange taste, a flash of color, a sudden feeling of déjà vu, or even an emotional shift that seems to come out of nowhere. These sensations are called auras, and they’re not just random. They’re actually small seizures themselves, serving as early warnings that something in the brain is about to change.
Understanding auras helps decode how seizures begin, spread, and affect different regions of the brain. They can also be valuable tools for people with epilepsy to anticipate what’s coming and prepare for it safely.
What Exactly Is a Seizure Aura?
In medical terms, an aura is a focal aware seizure or a seizure that starts in a specific part of the brain while the person remains conscious. According to the Epilepsy Foundation (2023), these brief, localized seizures can cause sensory, emotional, or cognitive symptoms that vary widely depending on where in the brain they originate.
For example:
- A temporal lobe aura might bring on sudden feelings of fear, déjà vu, or intense emotion.
- An occipital lobe aura could involve flashing lights or visual distortions.
- A parietal lobe aura might cause tingling, numbness, or strange body sensations.
- A frontal lobe aura could show up as a sudden urge to move or an odd motor sensation.
The aura itself may last only seconds or minutes. Sometimes it stays localized and fades on its own. Other times, it spreads and triggers a larger seizure that may involve loss of consciousness or convulsions.
The Neurology Behind It
Auras happen when abnormal electrical activity begins in a specific neural network but hasn’t yet spread across the brain. Every aura gives neurologists a small map of where a seizure starts.
In a 2022 review published in Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy, researchers noted that “the aura corresponds to the earliest phase of seizure onset” and often reflects “the first cortical region to become hyperexcitable.” Essentially, the aura is the brain’s first signal flare that something isn’t quite right.
Different types of auras can often be traced to specific brain regions:
- Temporal lobe auras are the most common and often cause memory, emotion, or sensory distortions (Kandratavicius et al., 2014).
- Occipital auras are associated with visual changes, like flashing lights, zigzag lines, or temporary blindness (Taylor et al., 2017).
- Parietal auras affect spatial perception and touch, causing sensations that feel “not real” or out of place (Téllez-Zenteno et al., 2005).
These early symptoms tell scientists a lot about the brain’s wiring. Since each aura corresponds to the part of the cortex where abnormal activity begins, recognizing an aura can actually help localize seizure foci during diagnosis or presurgical evaluation.
How Auras Feel: Common Experiences
Because auras are so individualized, no two people experience them in the same way. However, some patterns are consistently seen across studies:
1. Sensory Auras
Visual distortions, auditory changes, unusual tastes, or smells that aren’t really there. Some people describe hearing a faint hum or smelling something metallic or burnt before a seizure.
2. Emotional Auras
A sudden wave of fear, euphoria, sadness, or déjà vu. These come from the limbic system—especially the amygdala and hippocampus—which process emotions and memories.
3. Physical Sensations
Tingling, dizziness, stomach sensations (“rising feeling”), or numbness. These often come from parietal or insular regions.
4. Cognitive or Psychic Auras
Sudden confusion, time distortion, or the feeling that the world is dreamlike. These are often associated with temporal lobe epilepsy and can feel deeply unsettling even though they last only moments.
So What Do They Mean?
Auras serve as valuable neurological clues. They’re not just “warnings,” they’re data points that reveal how and where seizures start.
From a clinical standpoint, auras are often used to classify seizure type and guide treatment decisions. If someone consistently has the same type of aura, it can help doctors localize the epileptic focus on an EEG or MRI (Foldvary-Schaefer & Wyllie, 2021).
For example:
- Visual auras suggest occipital involvement.
- Fear-based auras suggest the amygdala or temporal lobe.
- Somatosensory auras suggest parietal lobe origins.
Understanding these details helps doctors tailor medication or surgical approaches. It also empowers patients to track patterns and identify potential triggers like stress, lack of sleep, or flashing lights.
How Auras Help People Prepare
While not everyone with epilepsy experiences auras, for those who do, they can provide precious seconds, or minutes, of warning before a seizure generalizes. Recognizing early signs allows people to move to a safe space, alert others, or take protective action.
A 2020 study published in Epilepsy & Behavior found that individuals who recognize their auras report fewer injuries and better seizure management outcomes. Many described developing aura-response plans: actions they take immediately when symptoms begin, such as sitting down, signaling a friend, or using wearable seizure detectors.
These seconds of awareness can make an enormous difference in safety and quality of life.
Why Some People Don’t Get Auras
Not everyone experiences an aura before a seizure. Some seizures begin abruptly, with no preceding sensory or emotional changes. This can depend on seizure type, location, and spread rate.
Generalized epilepsy, for instance, typically starts across both hemispheres at once, leaving no time for an aura to form. Focal epilepsies, on the other hand, are more likely to start with a small, localized signal, the aura, before spreading.
Medication and brain adaptation may also play a role. Over time, neural networks can change their connectivity, reducing the visibility of early warning signs even when the seizure mechanism is still the same (Englot et al., 2016).
Living With Auras: Practical Tips
Because auras are such a personal experience, managing them involves both clinical and lifestyle strategies.
1. Keep a Seizure Diary
Note what you felt, what you were doing, and when it happened. Patterns can reveal specific triggers or brain activity trends.
2. Prioritize Rest and Stress Management
Sleep deprivation and stress can lower the brain’s seizure threshold, making auras (and seizures) more likely (Reddy et al., 2018).
3. Communicate With Your Neurologist
Describe your auras in detail. The sensations, timing, and frequency are all diagnostic clues that can refine treatment.
4. Use Technology Wisely
Some wearable seizure monitors can detect early physiological changes and alert others in real time, especially if you lose consciousness shortly after an aura.
5. Build Safety Habits
If you recognize a consistent aura, plan what to do during that short window—sit or lie down, avoid sharp objects, and let someone nearby know what’s happening.
The Takeaway
Auras aren’t just precursors to seizures; they’re seizures themselves and small but meaningful bursts of abnormal brain activity. They remind us that epilepsy isn’t random. It’s rooted in complex electrical patterns that the brain sometimes misfires.
By learning to understand auras—how they feel, what triggers them, and what they reveal—people with epilepsy gain something powerful: awareness. That awareness can translate into safety, better management, and a stronger partnership with their healthcare team.
Recognizing the science behind auras doesn’t just demystify them. It gives people the language to describe what their brains are doing and the tools to take control when things feel unpredictable.
References
– Epilepsy Foundation. (2023). Focal aware seizures (auras).
– Kandratavicius, L., et al. (2014). “Temporal lobe epilepsy: Cellular and circuit alterations.” Nature Reviews Neurology, 10(6), 347–358.
– Taylor, I., et al. (2017). “Visual aura in occipital lobe epilepsy.” Epilepsy Research, 136, 123–131.
– Téllez-Zenteno, J. F., et al. (2005). “Somatosensory auras in partial epilepsy.” Brain, 128(1), 238–249.
– Foldvary-Schaefer, N., & Wyllie, E. (2021). Localization of seizure onset and aura characteristics. Epilepsia, 62(5), 1005–1014.
– Englot, D. J., et al. (2016). “Network changes in temporal lobe epilepsy.” Epilepsia, 57(9), 1581–1593.
– Reddy, D. S., et al. (2018). “Neuroendocrine aspects of epilepsy and sleep.” Neuroscience Letters, 667, 68–79.
– Epilepsy & Behavior. (2020). “Self-awareness and safety outcomes in individuals with seizure auras.” Epilepsy & Behavior, 112, 107409.