Epileptic Disorders
MENUMirth and laughter elicited during brain stimulation Volume 13, numéro 4, December 2011
Illustrations
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
- Mots-clés : brain stimulation, cortical mapping, mirth, laughter, language areas, negative motor areas, gelastic seizures
- DOI : 10.1684/epd.2011.0480
- Page(s) : 435-40
- Année de parution : 2011
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.