The migraine of Immanuel Kant

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) suffered, since his fourti es, from a migraine with aura which showed a significant exacerbation in hi s seventies, coinciding with the onset of symptoms of a senile dementia of Alzheimer's type. Recorded symptoms of Kant's migraine include recurrent sc intillating scotomas, one episode of diplopia, two episodes of complete ama urosis and frequent headaches described as oppressions of the head. The sai d symptoms of Kant's migraine can be traced not only in his letters and in accounts of his contemporary biographers, but also in the philosopher's pub lished work.