Evening star., 1951-06-20
Laughing Center Found
In New Study of Broin
British Doctor Cites Cuses
Of Nerve Pathways
By Thomus R. Henry


There is laughing center in the
brain.
When it gets out of order there are
episodes Of purposeless and uncontroll-
able laughter which in some cases give
way only to Inconsistencies and death.
AT least six such cases are described
by DR.. j. Purdon Martin Of the Ma
honal Hospital, London, in the British
neurological journal, Brain.
This center, which it has been i'm
possible to locate with precision, must
be in the section Of the brain known as
the hypothalamus, DR.. Martin concludes.
From 1t nerve pathways radiate in
some complex pattern to the muscles
OF face, throat and jaws so that all
act automatically in complex pattern.
It lies somewhere in the general
neighborhood of so-called rage center
which comes into action when the entire
top of the brain is removed in dogs or
cats.
Weird Cases Cited.
Some of the cases cited are quite
weird. One was that of man who was
seized with uncomfortable laughter at
his mothers funeral. He was taken to
hospital. where the attack finally was
controlled with opiates. But other
seizures Of the same kind came during
the next few days. Finally he became un-
conscious and died. Several hemorrhages
were found in the hypothalamic area.
Another was that Of young woman
who had ringside seat at prize fight.
One of the boxers was knocked through
the ropes and fell at her feet. Then
the fit of uncomfortable laughter
started. She was taken to a hospital,
where the laughing finally ceased and
she fell into a deep sleep. She awoke
about "a hours later with a bad head
ache and no memory Of what had hap
pened since the fighter was knocked out
Of the ring. The headache lasted five
days. The indications were that there
was small brain hemorrhage which
had been started by the excitement Of
the fight.
Most dramatic case of all, Dr. Martin
said, is one reported several years ago
in which woman literally died laugh
ing. She woke one morning with q
severe headache and uncomfortable
laughter. This lasted for about 80 min
utes. The victim couldn't close her
eyes. She couldn't speak but under
stood everything that was said to her
and was able to respond with gestures
She suddenly collapsed and died.
Victims i'm Two Groups.
The Laughing fit" victims seem to
fall into two groups-young and old
DR.. Martin suggests. In the former it
seems likely that there is some abnormal
stimulation of the hypothetical laugh
ing center. In the old, he suggests, it
is more probable that the brain mech
anism which enables one ordinarily to
stop laughing may be affected, so that
once the pattern is started there is no
way to bring it under control. But in
both cases the same brain area-prob-
ably extremely minutes involved.
The laughing fits seem almost al
ways associated with drowsiness. This
is in line with the thesis that the cen
ter is somewhere in the region of the
hypothalamus, which also is involved
In sleep.
In either case the reaction appears
entirely automatic. The victims have
nothing to laugh about and sometimes
have no awareneSS that they are
laughing. Such cases always are ex-
tremely serious, due either to tumors
or hemorrhages. They may be close
ly akin to certain forms of epilepsy.
The laughing episodes can be compared
to epileptic fits.
There are other cases of persons who
laugh quite easily and have difficulty
stopping, but these may be due to an
exceptionally weak inhibition mechan-
ism. They cannot, however, be con-
sidered pathological.
The physical mechanism Of laughing,
DR.. Martin says, obviously lies below
the level Of consciousness, although it is
set off by impulses from the cerebral
cortex.