Find out what’s happening in the brain when you have a migraine and what we still don’t know about this complex disorder.

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A throbbing, pounding headache. Bright zigzagging lines across your field of vision. Sensitivity to light, lingering fatigue, disrupted sleep. While an incapacitating headache is one of the most common symptoms, a migraine can include any of these experiences. So what exactly is a migraine? And what causes it? Marianne Schwarz explores what we know— and don’t know— about this complex disorder.

Lesson by Marianne Schwarz, directed by Bálint Gelley, CUB Animation.