Acute pathological laughter

Darin T. Okuda, Abraham S C Chyung, Cynthia T. Chin, Emmanuelle Waubant

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pseudobulbar effect is a condition characterized by uncontrollable episodes of inappropriate laughing or crying that are disproportionate and discordant to the situation at hand. We report on a 16-year-old woman presenting with acute pathological laughter in the context of CNS demyelinating disease. Brain MRI scans fortuitously obtained before and after the onset of this symptom demonstrated acute gadolinium-enhancing lesions in the cerebral peduncles. The etiology of this condition remains theoretical; however, the results here provide further insights into the pathways of emotional control.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1389-1390
Number of pages2
JournalMovement Disorders
Volume20
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2005

Keywords

  • Inappropriate laughter
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Pathological laughter
  • Pseudobulbar affect

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology

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