Neurological disorders that cause uncontrollable laughing, known as Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA), disrupt the brain's emotional control centers, leading to sudden, exaggerated, or inappropriate emotional outbursts (laughing or crying) unrelated to the person's actual feelings. Common conditions associated with PBA include stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), resulting from damage to brain pathways controlling emotional expression.
Overview. Pseudobulbar affect, also called PBA, is a brain condition in which a person suddenly starts to laugh or cry and can't manage the reaction.
What are neurological symptoms that should never be ignored? Key symptoms to watch for include sudden severe headaches, unexplained numbness or tingling, vision changes, cognitive decline, muscle weakness, tremors, balance problems, speech difficulties, and seizures.
Symptoms of nervous system disorders
Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is characterized by bouts of uncontrolled crying or laughing that are disproportionate or inappropriate to the social context and are not associated with depression or anxiety.
Overview. Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) describes a disorder that causes a person to experience uncontrollable episodes of crying, laughing, or other emotional displays that are out of context in their social interactions. Typically, pseudobulbar affect occurs secondary to other neurological conditions.
Bulbar palsy initial symptoms
Common symptoms of neurological disorders include:
FND (Functional Neurological Disorder) symptoms are genuine neurological issues where the brain and body don't communicate properly, causing diverse problems like weakness/paralysis, tremors/jerks, gait issues, seizure-like episodes, speech/swallowing trouble, vision/hearing problems, numbness, fatigue, pain, and cognitive issues (brain fog, memory). These symptoms are involuntary, can vary greatly, and are not due to structural brain damage.
Common Neurological Red Flags to Watch For
Five key signs your brain might be in trouble include significant memory loss (forgetting important things or familiar routines), difficulty with everyday tasks, confusion about time/place, problems with language/communication, and noticeable personality or mood changes, such as increased irritability or loss of interest in hobbies, which signal potential cognitive decline or neurological issues.
These include fibromyalgia and vitamin B12 deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), migraine, hypo-thyroidism, hypertension, Beçhets, Arnold-Chiari deformity, and mitochondrial disorders, although your neurologist can usually rule them out quite easily.
Six reasons you should see a neurologist
Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is a neurological condition that causes outbursts of uncontrolled or inappropriate laughing or crying. These episodes don't match your internal emotional state. PBA develops as the result of a brain injury or underlying neurological condition, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Besides cognitive and behavioral changes, some people with ALS experience changes in how they process and display emotions. They may laugh or cry at inappropriate times, even when they don't necessarily feel happy or sad.
Other Causes of Inappropriate Laughter
Thus, neurologic symptoms can include muscle weakness or lack of coordination, abnormal sensations in the skin, and disturbances of vision, taste, smell, and hearing. Neurologic disorders can interfere with sleep, making a person anxious or excited at bedtime and thus tired and sleepy during the day.
Several studies have suggested that personality traits such as neuroticism may play a pivotal role in the development of FND. FND has also been associated with alexithymia: patients with FND report difficulties in identifying, analyzing, and verbalizing emotions.
Symptoms can be different for each person. NHS Grampian, NHS Orkney and your GP work closely to diagnose and support people with FND. Diagnosis can made by a medical professional with specialist training which may be your GP or a Neurologist.
Here's a list of seven symptoms that call for attention.
Listed in the directory below are some, for which we have provided a brief overview.
1. Headache. Headaches are one of the most common neurological disorders—and there are a variety of different kinds of headaches, such as migraines, cluster headaches, and tension headaches.
Difficulty chewing. Outbursts of uncontrolled or inappropriate laughing or crying. Muscle spasms in your jaw (trismus). Exaggerated facial reflexes, like jaw jerking.
Disease onset often occurs in one of two distinct ways: Limb Onset ALS or Bulbar Onset ALS. While disease onset is usually focal (symptoms start in one specific site – either limb or bulbar), multifocal (symptoms start in multiple sites) onset is possible and can occur in both limbs and bulbar regions simultaneously.
Symptoms of Bell's palsy come on suddenly and may include: