title: Pathological Laughing: Brain SPECT Findings.
abstract: We present the case of a 40-year-old man consulting for uncontrollable episodes of laughing related to emotional lability and not systematically linked to feelings of happiness. Seven months earlier he had presented a pontine ischemic stroke related to an occlusion of the basilar and left vertebral arteries. No epileptic activity or new MRI brain lesions were found. Brain perfusion SPECT performed showed marked hypoperfusion in the right frontal inferior and temporoinsular regions, suggesting a diaschisis phenomenon caused by pontine lesions and highlighted laughing regulation pathways. The patient was successfully treated with a serotonergic reuptake inhibitor, fluoxetine.
authors.affiliation: From the *Service de Biophysique et Médecine Nucléaire and †Unité Neuro-vasculaire, Hôpital de Hautepierre, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; ‡Université de Strasbourg, EA 3072, Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; and §ICube, Université de Strasbourg/CNRS (UMR 7357), Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morland
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: Cyrille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blondet
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marescaux
authors.forename: Izzie Jacques
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Namer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007845:Laughter; D008297:Male; D011149:Pons / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon