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Case Reports
. 2016 Dec 8:7:31-33.
doi: 10.1016/j.ebcr.2016.11.004. eCollection 2017.

Ictal laughter and crying: Should they be classified as automatisms?

Anna-Marieta Moise  1 , Linda Leary  2 , Lola C Morgan  3 , Alex M Papanastassiou  4 , C Ákos Szabó  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Ictal laughter and crying: Should they be classified as automatisms?

Anna-Marieta Moise et al. Epilepsy Behav Case Rep. .

Abstract

Gelastic seizures (GS) describe ictal laughter and are associated with hypothalamic lesions, as well as other cortical areas. Dacrystic seizures (DS), characterized by ictal crying, also have been reported in hypothalamic lesions and focal epilepsy. We describe a young girl with drug resistant focal dyscognitive seizures associated with gelastic and dacrystic features. However, neither laughter nor crying was correlated with a stereotyped electroencephalographic (EEG) pattern or involvement of a particular brain region. Additionally, based on the variety of epileptogenic foci associated with GS and DS in the literature, laughter and crying appear to represent ictal or peri-ictal automatisms.

Keywords: Automatisms; Dacrystic seizures; Epilepsy; Gelastic seizures; Parietal lobe.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Neuroimaging and ictal scalp EEG sample. MRI images on the left (top axial, lower coronal), red arrows indicating dysplastic cortex, and ictal scalp EEG sample on the right. The patient was laughing during and between recurring paroxysms of spiking or paroxysmal fast activity (her photo and scalp EEG sample is on the right, recorded on an anterior–posterior bipolar montage).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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