Scintillating scotoma is a common visual aura in migraine.

Scintillating scotoma may also be caused by other serious neurological or cardiovascular conditions, especially when the onset occurs later in life.

Concomitant presence of a moving scintillating scotoma is suggestive of migraine, but has been seen in cerebral cancer as well.

Scintillating scotoma is the most common symptom which usually happens concurrently with Expanding Fortification Spectra.

Scintillating scotoma is the most common visual aura preceding migraine and was first described by 19th century physician Hubert Airy (1838-1903).

The scintillating scotoma of migraine in humans may be related to the neurophysiologic phenomenon termed the spreading depression of Leão.

The aura described most often by migraineurs is a Scintillating scotoma, in which a zig-zag begins from a center of a field and moves outwards to encompass the visual field.

Although many variations occur, scintillating scotoma usually begins as a spot of flickering light near or in the center of the visual field, which prevents vision within the scotoma area.

Scintillating scotoma: is the progression of a fortification scotoma i.e When the lines seen in a fortificatin scotoma change in brightness rapidly so they look like flickering lights.

Many migraine sufferers evolve from scintillating scotoma as a prodrome to migraine to scintillating scotoma without migraine.

It is a variant of migraine in which the patient may experience aura symptoms such as scintillating scotoma, nausea, photophobia, hemiparesis and other migraine symptoms but does not experience headache.

Vision disturbances often consist of a scintillating scotoma (an area of partial alteration in the field of vision which flickers and may interfere with a person's ability to read or drive.)

The lines may be gray or colored and the brightness may change from darker to lighter so that they appear to be flickering then the fortification scotoma may be called a scintillating scotoma.

Retinal migraine is a different disease than scintillating scotoma, which is a visual anomaly caused by spreading depression in the occipital cortex, at the back of the brain, not in the eyes nor any component thereof.

Negative scotoma: an area of partial or total blindness which usually followed by a scintillating scotoma but may happen before it or may be surrounded by a scintillating scotoma.

Some authors, such as Charles Singer, have suggested that the characteristics of the descriptions of the visions and the illustrations, such as bright lights and auras, imply they may have been caused by scintillating scotoma, a migraine condition.

The terms "retinal migraine" and "ocular migraine" are often confused with an abnormal condition in the brain (cortical spreading depression) that may cause similar symptoms such as scintillating scotoma affecting vision in both eyes, also associated with migraine headaches.