Pseudobulbar affect

What it means

Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is characterized by uncontrolled crying or laughing which may be disproportionate or inappropriate to the social context. Thus, there is a disparity between the patient's emotional expression and his or her emotional experience.

Terminology has been varied and somewhat confusing, including involuntary emotional expression disorder, emotional lability, emotional dysregulation, pathological laughter and crying, emotional dysregulation, emotional incontinence, and emotionalism. PBA may be encountered in the setting of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, extrapyramidal and cerebellar disorders (Parkinson disease, multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy), multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer disease and other dementias, stroke, and brain tumors.

Rare diseases that can present with this4

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Pseudobulbar behavioral symptoms · Pseudobulbar behavioural symptoms