Tsunamis hiding in plain sight: spreading depression in clinical neurology - PubMed
a day ago
- #spreading depression
- #migraine aura
- #neurology
- Spreading depression is a neurophysiological phenomenon observed across species, including humans, characterized by a slowly propagating wave of mass depolarization in the brain.
- Often termed a 'brain tsunami', it causes transient neuronal hyperexcitability followed by reversible neuronal silence, lasting minutes.
- Spreading depression is under-recognized as a disease biomarker because it cannot be detected in routine scalp EEG recordings.
- Migraine aura is a well-known manifestation of spreading depression, but similar symptoms from structural brain pathology are often mislabeled as migraine aura, leading to potential misdiagnoses.
- The article advocates for using the term 'spreading depression' to describe these clinical episodes more accurately, differentiating between structural and non-structural causes.
- Recognizing spreading depression as a generic mechanism for certain neurological deficits is crucial, similar to how seizure disorders are categorized.