JLE

Epileptic Disorders

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Mirth and laughter elicited during brain stimulation Volume 13, numéro 4, December 2011

Auteurs
Department of Neurology University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Department of Neurology Harper University Hospital, Wayne State University, Detroit, Department of Neurosurgery University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA

There are few reports of laughter and/or mirth evoked by electrical stimulation of the brain. In this study, we present a patient with intractable epilepsy in whom mirth and laughter was consistently produced during stimulation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (opercular part) using stereotactically placed depth electrodes. A review of the literature shows that cortical sites that produce mirth when stimulated are located in the dominant hemisphere close to language areas or cortical negative motor areas.