Publications on Migraine Art

The migraine experiences which are illustrated in the Migraine Art pictures range from clinical observations, which are commonplace, to subtle phenomena, which have not yet been recorded in the medical literature. In fact, Migraine Art provides an almost complete pictorial inventory of somesthetic and visual migraine aura symptoms.

"The Art of Migraine - Part 1": Slide folder used as promotional material by WB Pharmaceuticals Limited (1984).

Reproductions of Migraine Art have been used and distributed by different media. In 1984, WB Pharmaceuticals, a sister company of Boehringer Ingelheim Limited, produced two slide folders 'The Art of Migraine', each containing 9 slides from Migraine Art pictures.

A film 'The Art of Migraine' won a Silver Award in the 1984 British Medical Association film competition.

Migraine Art pictures have been selected to illustrate numerous articles in the lay press and general medical press, sometimes achieving a high standard of popular health education. The first scientific report on the results of the first National Migraine Art Competition, based on an analysis of 207 pictures, was published by Marcia Wilkinson and Derek Robinson (1985) in the journal 'Cephalalgia'.

Selected pieces of Migraine Art were reproduced not only in medical papers and books, but also in a thesis on the art of migraine from the point of view of an art therapist and in textbooks of decorative art and cultural anthropology, documenting the broad interest taken in this unique source of information.

A migraine sufferer's comment

"There is a book by Dr Sacks called Migraine that has pictures of the distorted images that some see during a migraine. I find it comforting to realize that I am not alone."

(Anonymous, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Re: Visual Disturbances, June 28, 2000)

In 1992, Oliver Sacks published a selection of 13 images from the Migraine Art collection in the revised edition of his monograph 'Migraine'. This influential book became a major source of information on Migraine Art, promoting the said concept both in the medical community and in the general public. Oliver Sacks' appreciation of Derek Robinson's Migraine Art concept is expressed in an edifying dedication (dated 5th May 1993) of a specimen of his book: "For Derek Robinson - whose curatorship of the Migraine Art collection, and courtesy, have made this new, all-colour edition of Migraine possible!"

Oliver Sacks on migraine aura as source of inspiration for neurologists

"Speculating on the possible reasons for the prevalence of migraine in neurologists, and particularly headache specialists, Evans et al. wonder, among other possibilities, whether 'a personal history of migraines might stimulate an interest in neurology and headache as a subspecialty.' For myself, with a personal history of classical migraines (and, more often, isolated visual ones) going back to childhood, the extraordinary phenomena of the aura (which for me included transient or partial achromatopsia, akinetopsia, as well as visual agnosias, alexias, etc), excited an interest in the brain, and especially in visual processing, at an early age. These migraines were certainly one of the reasons I was attracted to neurology, why I chose migraine as the subject of my first book, and why I devoted a large part of this book to illustrating the varied presentations of visual auras in my patients."

(Sacks O. The prevalence of migraine in neurologists, December 3, 2003, http://www.neurology.org/cgi/eletters/61/9/1271#845. Correspondence to Evans RW, Lipton RB, Silberstein SD. The prevalence of migraine in neurologists. Neurology 2003; 61: 1271-1272.)

Since 1998, the Migraine Art collection has been explored in a series of medical papers and a booklet written by Podoll and Robinson, whereas a monograph (finished in 1999) summarizing their research (Migraine Art - The Migraine Experience From Within) had a long way in search for a publisher.

Migraine Art - The Migraine Experience from Within will be released by North Atlantic Books on February 24, 2009 (see here).

Klaus Podoll on Migraine Art as source of inspiration for neurologists

"Oliver Sacks's book Migraine was the starting point for my own Migraine Art research, which I started in collaboration with Derek Robinson in 1997. At that time, I was writing a medical paper on the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, presenting the case histories of two migraine sufferers reporting sensations of an abnormal enlargement of parts of their bodies. In Oliver Sacks's book I had discovered an illustration from the Migraine Art collection... I wondered whether this painting, depicting an abnormal elongation of spiralling legs, might be an illustration of the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, and whether the Migraine Art collection might include further representations of this rare syndrome. Thus, I wrote a letter to Derek Robinson (November 15, 1996) and I first enjoyed the hospitality of the Curator of the Migraine Art collection at his home on March 1, 1997. I will never forget the strong impact of viewing for the first time the entire collection with a neurologist's eyes. It was like having entered into an Oriental treasure-cave full of papyri, fascinating both by their beauty and by the secrets of their hidden meanings. Since 1997, we have regularly met to spend one or two weeks of intense work together, partly in Maidenhead and partly in Aachen. Although it was our original intention to produce two or three scientific papers, it became soon obvious to us that the Migraine Art collection merited greater consideration, therefore we began writing a monograph entitled 'Migraine Art - The Migraine Experience From Within'".

Podoll K, The history and the concept of Migraine Art. Lecture delivered at the symposium "La settimana della cefalea - A headache break", Pavia, March 10, 2002.

In March 2002, the Italian interdisciplinary medical journal Confinia Cephalalgica was the first to include a section on Migraine Art in its Editorial Board, hosting a number of articles by Klaus Podoll, Ubaldo Nicola and others about various aspects of Migraine Art in subsequent issues.

The two last mentioned writers also co-authored a book (in Italian) about Migraine Art and Metaphysical Art, entitled "The Aura of Giorgio de Chirico" (2003).

In 2008, Betsy Baxter Blondin published a book entitled Migraine Expressions: A Creative Journey through Life with Migraine, including numerous examples of migraine art as well as poetry and prose expressing the migraine experience.

References

Anonymous. Artists capture impact of a migraine attack. Gen Pract Weekly 1992; 44: 400.
Ayles D, Nicola U, Podoll K. Cosa si prova ad avere un'emicrania: 'Mig Installation', un'opera multimodale di Debbie Ayles. [What it is like to have a migraine: Debbie Ayles multimedia 'Mig Installation'. In Italian.] Confinia Cephalalgica 2004; 13: 109-118.
Blondin BB. Migraine Expressions: A Creative Journey through Life with Migraine. World Metro Press, 2008
Bollig G, Undall E, Mørland T, Podoll K. Migrene og kunst. [Migraine and art. In Norwegian] Tidsskr Nor Lægeforen 2005; 125: 777-778.
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Chatterjee A. The neuropsychology of visual artistic expression. Neuropsychologia 2004: 42: 1568-1583. (PDF available here)
Diamond S. Art and migraine. Headache Quart 1999; 10: 285.
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Evans RW, Lipton RB, Silberstein SD. The prevalence of migraine in neurologists. Neurology 2003; 61: 1271-1272.
Froyen L. Ziekte als inspiratiebron - "De invloed van migraine en andere fysieke gebreken op de kunst". Thesis, Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst Sint-Lukas (beeldende kunst) 2007. [DOC]
Gill JR, Robinson D. Twenty-five migraine artists: Their lives and their headaches. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Headache, Boston, MA, June 16-18, 1989. Quoted from: Biological Abstracts/RRM, BioSciences Information Service of Biological Abstracts, 1989.
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Nicola U, Podoll K. L'arte emicranica come strumento di studio dell'ispirazione artistica. [Migraine Art as a tool for studying artistic inspiration. In Italian] Confinia Cephalalgica 2001; 10: 137-144.
Nicola U, Podoll K. L'enigma di Giorgio de Chirico. La nascita della pittura metafisica dallo spirito dell'emicrania. [The enigma of Giorgio de Chirico. The birth of metaphysical painting from the spirit of migraine. In Italian] Confinia Cephalalgica 2002; 11: 9-24.
Nicola U, Podoll K. L'aura di Giorgio de Chirico. Arte emicranica e pittura metafisica. [The aura of Giorgio de Chirico. Migraine art and metaphysical art. In Italian - 156 pages] Mimesis, Milano 2003 (ISBN 88-8483-142-3).
Nicola U, Podoll K. Le avventure di Giorgio de Chirico nel paese dell' emicrania. In: G. Porcella (Hrsg.): Arte emicrania? Opere e parole tra mal di testa & metafisica. Il Cigno Edizioni, Roma 2003, pp. 5-9 (ISBN 88-7831-150-2).
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Podoll K. Migraine art - the migraine experience from within. Cephalalgia 1998; 18: 376.
Podoll K. Derek Robinson's audiovisual programme 'In the picture - A personal view of migraine': The cradle of the Migraine Art concept. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2001; 9: 17-22.
Podoll K. Migraine art in the internet: a study of 450 contemporary artists. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2006; 74: 89-107.
Podoll K, Ayles D. Inspired by migraine: Sarah Raphael's 'Strip!' paintings. J Roy Soc Med 2002; 95: 417-419. [PDF]
Podoll K, Ayles D. Sarah Raphael's Migraine With Aura as Inspiration for the Foray of Her Work Into Abstraction. Int Rev Neurobiol 2006; 74: 109-118.
Podoll K, Nicola U. The illness of Giorgio de Chirico - Migraine or epilepsy? Eur Neurol 2004; 51: 186.
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Podoll K, Nicola U. Pathographie und Neuropsychologie: Die Migräne Giorgio de Chiricos und die Geburt der metaphysischen Malerei. Nervenarzt 2004; 75 (Suppl 2): S258-259.
Podoll K, Nicola U. Die Krankheit des Giorgio de Chirico. Migräne oder Epilepsie? In: Bormuth M, Podoll K, Spitzer K (eds) Kunst und Krankheit. Studien zur Pathographie. Wallstein, Göttingen 2007
Podoll K, Robinson D. Lewis Carroll's migraine experiences. Lancet 1999; 353: 1366.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Out-of-body experiences and related phenomena in migraine art. Cephalalgia 1999; 19: 886-896.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Migraine experiences as artistic inspiration in a contemporary artist. J Roy Soc Med 2000; 93: 263-265. [PDF]
Podoll K, Robinson D. Macrosomatognosia and microsomatognosia in migraine art. Acta Neurol Scand 2000; 101: 413-416.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Illusory splitting as visual aura symptom in migraine. Cephalalgia 2000; 20: 228-232.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Self-report of the syndrome of Alice in Wonderland in migraine. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2000; 8: 109-110.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Cenesthetic pain sensations illustrated by an art teacher suffering from basilar migraine. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2000; 8: 171-176.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Mosaic illusion as visual aura symptom in migraine. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2000; 8: 193-196.
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Podoll K, Robinson D. Corona phenomenon as visual aura symptom in migraine. Cephalalgia 2001; 21: 712-717.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Recurrent Lilliputian hallucinations as visual aura symptom in migraine. Cephalalgia 2001; 21: 990-992.
Podoll K, Robinson D. The idea of a presence as aura symptom in migraine. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2001; 9: 71-74.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Splitting of the body image as somesthetic aura symptom in migraine. Cephalalgia 2001; 22: 62-65.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Auditory-visual synaesthesia in a patient with basilar migraine. J Neurol 2002; 249: 476-477.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Migraine Art - The migraine experience from within. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2002; 10: 29-34.
Podoll K, Robinson D. The migrainous nature of the visions of Hildegard of Bingen. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2002; 10: 95-100.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Pictorial representations of macrosomatognosia experienced as somesthetic aura in migraine. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2003; 10: 125-128.
Podoll K, Bollig G, Vogtmannn T, Pothmann R, Robinson D. Cenesthetic pain sensations illustrated by an artist suffering from migraine with typical aura. Cephalalgia 1999; 19: 598-601.
Podoll K, Töpper R, Robinson D, Saß H. Wiederkehrende Träume als Aurasymptome der Migräne. Fortschr Neurol Psychiat 2000; 68: 145-149.
Podoll K, Hoff P, Saß H. Die Migräne Immanuel Kants. Fortschr Neurol Psychiat 2000; 68: 332-337.
Podoll K, Hoff P, Saß H. The migraine of Immanuel Kant. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2001; 9: 49-50.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. The migraine of Giorgio de Chirico - Part I: History of illness. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2001; 9: 139-156.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. Le allucinazioni lillipuziane nell'arte emicranica. [Lilliputian hallucinations in Migraine Art. In Italian] Confinia Cephalalgica 2002; 11: 127-132.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. Giorgio de Chirico/Alberto Savinio: Die andere Moderne. Die Geburt der metaphysischen Malerei aus dem Geist der Migräne. Deutsches Ärzteblatt 2002; 99: A449-A450.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. Retrospektive zu de Chirico und Savinio in München. Bilderwelten, geprägt durch die Migräne. MMW-Fortschr Med 2002; 144 (no. 6): 57.
Podoll K, Ebel H, Robinson D, Nicola U. Sintomi essenziali ed accessori nella sindrome di Alice nel paese delle meraviglie. [Obligatory and facultative symptoms of the Alice in Wonderland syndrome. In Italian] Minerva Med 2002; 93: 287-293.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. Die Migräne Giorgio de Chiricos als Inspirationsquelle der metaphysischen Malerei. Der Schmerz 2002; 16 (Suppl 1): S86.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. L'ipotesi di un'origine emicranica della pittura di Picasso: una rassegna critica. [The migraine hypothesis on Picasso's paintings: a critical reappraisal. In Italian.] Confinia Cephalalgica 2003; 12: 11-23.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Ayles D, Nicola U. Le allucinazioni caleidoscopiche come sintomo visivo dell'aura emicranica. [Kaleidoscopic hallucinations as visual aura symptom in migraine. In Italian.] Confinia Cephalalgica 2003; 12: 53-63.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. The Theosophists' aura vision and the visual migraine aura: A phenomenological comparison. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2004; 11: 171-178.
Podoll K, Waniek S, Schneider F. Yayoi Kusama: Zaczelo sie halucynacja. [Yayoi Kusama: It started from hallucination. In Polish] Przew Lek 2004; 3: 106-108.
Podoll K, Schneider F, Hayashi T. Yayoi Kusama's entoptic art. NY Arts Magazine 2004; 9: 30-31.
Podoll K, Robinson D, Nicola U. Ricorrente sinestesia acustico-visiva come cintomo della aura emicranica. [Recurrent auditory-visual synaesthesia as aura symptom in migraine. In Italian] Confinia Cephalalgica 2005; 9: 7-11. [PDF]
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Schott GD. Exploring the visual hallucinations of migraine aura: the tacit contribution of illustration. Brain 2007; 130: 1690-1703. [PDF]
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Stafstrom CE, Goldenholz SR, Dulli DA. Serial headache drawings by children with migraine: correlation with clinical headache status. J Child Neurol 2005; 20: 809-813.
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Vick RM, Sexton-Radek K. Art and Migraine: Researching the Relationship between Artmaking and Pain Experience. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association 2005; 22: 193-204. [PDF]
Webb A. Pain as art. Exhibit depicts the violence of migraine headaches. American Medical News November 24, 1989; 32 (no. 44): 9.
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