Pathological crying induced by deep brain stimulation

• Published in: Movement disorders 2007-07, Vol.22 (9), p.1314-1316
• Main Authors: Wojtecki, Lars, Nickel, Janpeter, Timmermann, Lars, Maarouf, Mohammad, Südmeyer, Martin, Schneider, Frank, Seitz, Rüdiger J., Voges, Jürgen, Sturm, Volker, Schnitzler, Alfons
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Behavioral Symptoms - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; Crying; deep brain stimulation; Deep Brain Stimulation - adverse effects; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis; Neurology; Parkinson Disease - therapy; Parkinson's disease; pathological crying; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; positron emission tomography; subthalamic nucleus; Toxicity: nervous system and muscle
• ISSN: 0885-3185; 1531-8257
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.21266

Pathological crying (PLC)—an affective gesture without any or an adequate emotion—occurs with various diseases. A recent theory suggests that PLC is caused by a disruption of higher order cortical association areas from the cerebellum which computes profiles of psychomotor responses. We report a patient with Parkinson's disease who developed PLC during stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) predominantly of the right hemisphere. Positron emission tomography imaging showed thalamo‐ponto‐cerebellar activation during such stimulation. These findings indicate that the STN and possibly also ponto‐cerebellar pathways are involved in psychomotor control and in the modulation of PLC. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society