Abdominal aura (also known as visceral aura and epigastric aura) is used to denote a type of

somatosensory In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

or somaesthetic aura that typically manifests itself as abdominal discomfort in the form of nausea, malaise, hunger, or pain. The term is indebted to the Latin words (belly) and (wind, odor, or gleam of light).Jan Dirk Blom: A Dictionary of Hallucinations (2010). . Other presentations of the abdominal aura include viscerosensitive sensations such as abdominal discomfort, visceromotor symptoms presenting in the form of

tachycardia Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal (su ...

borborygmi A stomach rumble, also known as a bowel sound, peristaltic sound, abdominal sound, bubble gut or borborygmus (pronounced ; plural borborygmi), is a rumbling, growling or gurgling noise produced by movement of the contents of the gastro-intestinal ...

or vomiting, and vegetative symptoms such as blushing and sweating. Pathophysiologically, the abdominal aura is associated with aberrant neuronal discharges in sensory cortical areas representing the abdominal viscera. Etiologically, it is associated primarily with

paroxysmal Paroxysmal attacks or paroxysms (from Greek παροξυσμός) are a sudden recurrence or intensification of symptoms, such as a spasm or seizure. These short, frequent symptoms can be observed in various clinical conditions. They are usually ...

neurological disorders such as

migraine Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...

and

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

. The abdominal aura can be classified as a

somatic Somatic may refer to: * Somatic (biology), referring to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells ** Somatic cell, a non-gametic cell in a multicellular organism * Somatic nervous system, the portion of the vertebrate nervous sys ...

or coenesthetic

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

. The term is used in opposition to various terms denoting other types of somatosensory aura, notably splitting of the body image and

paraesthesia Paresthesia is an abnormal sensation of the skin (tingling, pricking, chilling, burning, numbness) with no apparent physical cause. Paresthesia may be transient or chronic, and may have any of dozens of possible underlying causes. Paresthesias ar ...

Notes

somatosensory system Medical signs Symptoms and signs Epilepsy Migraine {{Symptom-stub