What Is Palinopsia?

Many people with migraines know the world doesn’t always look the way it should. Lights may shimmer, patterns may distort, or the edges of vision may fill with strange effects. These experiences are often called migraine aura. But for some people, the changes go further: images linger long after the eyes should have moved on. This is palinopsia.

Palinopsia is a visual disturbance in which images persist, duplicate, or reappear after the original object has disappeared. Instead of fading quickly like a normal afterimage, these visuals stick around or trail across the visual field. For migraine patients, palinopsia can feel like an extension of aura — an unsettling reminder that the brain’s visual processing is misfiring.

The Two Main Types of Palinopsia

Doctors typically divide palinopsia into two categories, both of which can occur in people with migraines:

Hallucinatory palinopsia

These images are vivid, detailed, and feel real. For example, someone might see a person walk by, and when they look away, the same figure still appears in full color and clarity.
In migraine patients, this form is less common but may appear during severe aura phases or in cases where migraine overlaps with seizure-like activity in the brain’s visual areas.

Illusory palinopsia

This type is much more common in migraine. It involves light, motion, and contrast distortions: trailing car headlights, glowing outlines, or blurred duplicates of moving objects.
People with chronic migraines often notice these symptoms during or after an attack, especially in low-light or high-contrast environments.

Migraine and Palinopsia: How They Connect

Palinopsia doesn’t just “happen” in migraines by coincidence. The connection lies in how the brain processes sensory input during a migraine attack.

Cortical spreading depression – the wave of electrical activity thought to cause migraine aura – can temporarily disrupt the occipital lobe, which handles vision.
This disruption can cause the brain to “hold on” to visual signals longer than it should, producing persistent afterimages.
For people with frequent migraines, these disruptions may repeat often enough that palinopsia becomes a familiar, if unsettling, part of life.

Migraine is one of the leading causes of illusory palinopsia, often appearing alongside other aura symptoms like shimmering lights, zigzags, or blind spots.

Symptoms People With Migraines Report

For those with migraines, palinopsia can appear in specific ways that shape daily life:

Trailing lights at night – Streetlights and headlights may stretch into long streaks, making driving feel unsafe.
Shadows that stick – After looking at a pattern or object, its shape lingers, overlapping with whatever the eyes move to next.
Text that doubles – Reading on a page or screen may be difficult if letters seem to blur, ghost, or echo downward.
Aura “after-effects” – Even after migraine pain subsides, palinopsia may continue, leaving the world visually unstable.

These experiences can be frustrating, but they’re not uncommon. For some, they fade as the migraine resolves. For others, especially those with frequent migraines, palinopsia may persist between attacks.

Diagnoses

When palinopsia occurs in someone with a migraine history, doctors often consider it a symptom of aura — but it’s still important to rule out other causes.

Neurological exam and history: A doctor may ask if palinopsia only happens during migraines or also at other times.
Imaging (MRI, EEG): If symptoms are severe or appear outside of migraine attacks, imaging may be used to check for seizures, lesions, or stroke.
Medication review: Some migraine preventatives or antidepressants can actually cause palinopsia-like effects, making it important to look at timing and triggers.

Treatment and Management

There’s no one treatment that “cures” palinopsia, but for people with migraines, managing attacks often makes the biggest difference.

Migraine-specific strategies

Preventive medications like beta blockers, CGRP inhibitors, or anticonvulsants can reduce aura frequency, and by extension, palinopsia.
Medications such as triptans may shorten the duration of visual disturbances when taken early.
Lifestyle adjustments – hydration, consistent sleep, and avoiding known triggers – may reduce attacks and the chance of palinopsia showing up.

Coping with visual distortions

Tinted lenses or filters: Some migraine patients report fewer trails and afterimages with specially tinted glasses that reduce glare and contrast.
Controlled environments: Softer lighting, reduced screen glare, and minimizing night driving can help when palinopsia is active.
Grounding strategies: Reminding yourself that the lingering image is a brain misfire — not a dangerous hallucination — can reduce anxiety.

A study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence notes that even in drug-induced cases of palinopsia, symptoms may improve when the brain’s neurotransmitter systems are stabilized. This suggests migraine treatments that calm neurological hyperactivity could be helpful too.

The Emotional Impact

Migraines are already exhausting — adding palinopsia can make them feel overwhelming. Many patients describe feeling:

Anxious about driving or navigating public spaces, worried their vision will mislead them.
Frustrated while reading or working on screens, as letters blur and ghost.
Misunderstood, since palinopsia is so little-known that friends, family, or even doctors may dismiss the experience.

It’s important to recognize that these visual disturbances are real, valid, and part of migraine physiology. Support groups — both in-person migraine communities and online forums — often help people feel less alone in describing symptoms that can otherwise sound strange or “unbelievable.”

Reminder

Palinopsia is more than just an afterimage. For people with migraines, it can feel like the world won’t stop replaying itself: lights stretch, shapes linger, and words double across a page. While unsettling, these symptoms are a known part of migraine-related visual disturbances.

The good news is that managing migraine itself often reduces the frequency or severity of palinopsia. Treatments, lifestyle strategies, and supportive tools like tinted lenses can make a difference. And most importantly, knowing there’s a name for what you’re experiencing can bring relief in itself.

If you notice persistent afterimages — especially outside of migraine attacks — talk with your doctor. While palinopsia is often migraine-related, it can sometimes point to seizures, stroke, or medication side effects. Getting clarity helps you take back a sense of control.