A team of neuroscientists at Emory University School of Medicine that includes three ANA members has discovered a focal pathway in the brain that when electrically stimulated causes immediate laughter, followed by a sense of calm and happiness, even during awake brain surgery. According to a February 4, 2019 article posted on the Emory News Center, the effects of stimulation were observed in an epilepsy patient undergoing diagnostic monitoring for seizure diagnosis. These effects were then harnessed to help her complete a separate awake brain surgery two days later.
The ANA members who contributed to the study are Nigel Pedersen, MBBS, assistant professor of neurology at Emory University; Daniel Drane, PhD, associate professor of neurology at Emory University; and Helen Mayberg, MD, professor of neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
"This is a key study in understanding forebrain affective networks, as well as how to take advantage of this knowledge for clinical use," said Pedersen, who is engaged in human and non-human systems neuroscience with clinical and basic interests in epilepsy and research focused on epilepsy and sleep-wake mechanisms
Learn more here: Laughter may be best medicine for brain surgery