Does Stroke Affect Emotions?

Does stroke cause psychological and emotional changes?

It does appear so from the experience of 68-year-old Malcom Myatt, a lorry driver, who suffered a stroke and is now no longer able to feel sadness, since the part of the brain that is in charge of controlling that emotion has been destroyed.

The stroke had apparently affected the frontal lobe of his brain which is in charge of emotions. He also feels his short term memory has got affected.

The retired lorry driver said: "I am never depressed. Being sad wouldn't help anything anyway. I would definitely rather be happy all the time than the other way round. It's an advantage really. The stroke could have become my worst enemy but I wouldn't let it. Now I barely even notice that I don't feel sadness."

Neurologist Paresh Malhotra, a consultant at Charing Cross hospital, said, "There are a number of things that can result from a brain injury. Some people lose the ability to detect emotion in what other people say or their faces, or they can become less emotional themselves."



Source: Medindia