Related Experiment Videos
Laughter and the mesial and lateral premotor cortex.
J J Schmitt1, J Janszky, F Woermann
1Department of Presurgical Evaluation, Epilepsy Center Bethel, Maraweg 21, 33617 Bielefeld, Germany. jsh@gmx.org
Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B
|May 6, 2006
Summary
Electrical stimulation of the frontal lobe in two patients induced laughter and smiling. Researchers identified the anterior supplementary sensorimotor area/lateral premotor cortex as crucial for generating laughter.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
Background:
- Presurgical epilepsy evaluation often involves invasive electrophysiological monitoring.
- Subdural grid electrodes are used to map cortical function and identify seizure foci.
Observation:
- Cortical electrical stimulation was applied to the frontal lobe in an infant and an adult patient undergoing epilepsy surgery.
- Stimulation of the prefrontal cortex in both patients reproducibly induced laughter and smiling.
Findings:
- Laughter was elicited by stimulating the lateral prefrontal cortex in the child and the anterior supplementary sensorimotor area (SSMA) in the adult.
- The adult patient reported no associated emotional experience during laughter induction.
- Speech slowing was observed with stimulation in adjacent cortical areas.
Implications:
- This study implicates the anterior SSMA/lateral premotor cortex in the generation of the motor aspects of laughter.
- Understanding the neural basis of laughter can inform research into neurological disorders affecting social interaction and emotion.
- These findings contribute to the functional mapping of the human frontal lobe.