Though a video of CBS News reporter Serene Branson uttering gibberish at the Grammys instantly went viral earlier this week, amusement in some quarters quickly turned to widespread concern when viewers with medical backgrounds or family experience pointed out that Branson’s aphasic speech patterns seemed like they could have been the result of a stroke. CBS was further criticized when it was revealed that after paramedics checked her out, Branson simply went home rather than immediately getting a more comprehensive neurological scan.
Fortunately, it appears that Branson’s speech patterns can be explained by something called a migraine aura, which is far less dangerous than a stroke.
The LAT reports on Branson’s diagnosis:
The first step in diagnosing her problem was making sure she didn’t have a stroke or other severe neurological problem. For that, she visited Dr. Neil Martin, chief of neurosurgery at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, who performed an extensive neurological examination, including an MRI, to look for an interruption of blood flow, swelling, tissue damage or other signs of neurological damage.
Once they ruled out stroke, the next step was to look at her medical history and her family history. It turns out Branson had suffered from migraines as a child, but had never had auras before. “That’s typical of migraines,” Charles said. “Each attack can be slightly different. Some people have auras only occasionally.”
While migraine auras affect an estimated 1/3 of regular migraine sufferers, the type of migraine aura that disrupts speaking abilities, known as dysphasic aura, is the rarest variety, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Another aura causes transient speech or language problems referred to as dysphasic aura. In the rarest of auras, the limbs and possibly the face on one side of your body might become weak; this is referred to as hemiplegic migraine.
A migraine aura usually precedes the migraine attack but can also occur during the attack. A migraine aura can also occur without an associated headache. The migraine attack itself can last as little as four hours or as long as several days. The attack is followed by a postdrome phase, where you might feel drained or washed out.
Here, for reference, is the video in question:
Appearing on CBS’ Early Show this morning, Branson assured her interviewers that she was doing better and expressed her desire to go back to work: “My boss has already asked if I’m ready and I expressed to him that I am anxious and eager to get back to being back at work and I’m ready to be telling the story and not be the story.”
