ABSTRACT
In 1981, John Hinckley Jr., in the throes of mental illness, attempted to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan in order to impress the object of his affections, actress Jodie Foster. He ultimately failed in both of his endeavors, though as a direct result of the shooting, press secretary James Brady sustained a bullet wound to the head. The bullet entered the left side of his forehead, terminating in the right side of his brain. Brady survived his injuries, but experienced the expected symptoms of paralysis, pain, and seizures, among other physiological hurdles. The unexpected symptom Brady experienced, however, appeared to be his capacity to regulate the expression of emotions. The majority of his emotional expressions were appropriate to the situation, yet on occasion it seemed that emotions not quite matching up with his actual state of mind would leak into his speech in what one physician, Dr. Kobrine, described as a sort of ‘cry-talk’. Though not among his most prominent symptoms, Brady’s emotional content in his speech rose as an interest to others with similar experiences, particularly in the recently identified pseudobulbar affect disorder (PBA). Characterized by frequent episodes of emotional outbursts, such as laughter or crying, which do not align with the individual’s actual emotions, pseudobulbar affect is often seen in those who have experienced a traumatic brain injury or stroke, as well as in those affected by degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Though we do not know for sure if Brady’s symptoms were a diagnosable match for PBA, the connections between Brady’s and others’ cases are nonetheless informative.
