title: Acute pathological laughter.
abstract: Pseudobulbar affect 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.
authors: Division of Neurology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94117, USA. okuda_md@yahoo.com
authors: Darin T
authors: DT
authors: Okuda
authors: Abraham S C
authors: AS
authors: Chyung
authors: Cynthia T
authors: CT
authors: Chin
authors: Emmanuelle
authors: E
authors: Waubant
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007845:Laughter; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; D016899:Interferon-beta