RESUMO
Previously published single case reports of patients with a unilateral lesion were assembled. After the lesion, each of the 244 cases presented at least one of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) symptoms of a manic episode, namely, elated or irritable mood, grandiosity, talkativeness, flight of ideas, hyperhedonism, reduced need for sleep, agitation, or distractibility (all optional in DSM-IV). As expected, the subgroup of 59 manic patients had a right hemisphere lesion far more often than a left one. However, this was also true of various sets of the nonmanic cases. Furthermore, elation was not the symptom most strongly associated with lesion side. Elation without mania was not significantly predicted by lesion side. However, talkativeness was strongly predicted by right lesion side whether in manic or nonmanic patients or even when the symptom was the only symptom observed. Agitation was consistently and robustly associated with right lesion side, but not completely distinctly so (it fell short of significance when not accompanied by elation or other symptoms). It is proposed that prevalence of right hemisphere lesions causing mania is primarily related to mental and behavioral disinhibition rather than a shift of mood and that it consists of release of left hemisphere influence.
