Mirth and laughter elicited during brain stimulation

Epileptic Disord. 2011 Dec;13(4):435-40. doi: 10.1684/epd.2011.0480.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Brain / physiology*
  • Dominance, Cerebral / physiology
  • Electric Stimulation*
  • Electroencephalography
  • Epilepsy / complications
  • Epilepsy / surgery
  • Female
  • Frontal Lobe / physiology
  • Humans
  • Laughter / physiology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Middle Aged
  • Motor Cortex / physiology
  • Neurosurgical Procedures
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed