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Mania following left hemisphere injury
1Department of Psychological Medicine National University Hospital, Singapore.
Singapore Medical Journal
|August 1, 1996
Summary
Head injuries can trigger mania, even when affecting the left brain hemisphere. This case suggests head trauma may directly cause affective disorders, challenging previous assumptions about brain lateralization in mania.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Neurology
Background:
- Secondary mania, or mania developing after a neurological event, is not fully understood.
- Previous theories suggested a link between mania and non-dominant (right) hemisphere brain injury.
Observation:
- A patient experienced a self-limiting manic episode after a closed head injury to the left cerebral hemisphere.
- Laboratory and psychological investigations supported the head injury as the causative factor.
Findings:
- Despite the left hemisphere injury, the patient's mania resolved spontaneously without intervention.
- A literature review identified five prior cases of mania linked to left hemispheric injury.
Implications:
- This case contributes to evidence suggesting head trauma can directly cause affective psychoses.
- It challenges the established notion that mania is exclusively associated with non-dominant right hemisphere pathology.