Hypersexuality following bilateral thalamic infarction: case report

oleh: Eduardo G. Mutarelli, Antonio M.P. Omuro, Tarso Adoni

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Academia Brasileira de Neurologia (ABNEURO) 2006-03-01

Deskripsi

Hypersexuality is a rare but well recognized condition following brain injury. It has been described secondarily to dysfunction in the hypothalamus, the temporal and frontal lobes. We report a 63 year-old man that developed neuropsychological disturbances with hypersexuality as a prominent feature, disinhibition and moderate memory loss, hypersomnia and irritability after a bilateral paramedian thalamic infarction. A SPECT showed frontal hypoperfusion. We believe that these findings are expression of frontal-subcortical circuits dysfunction, particularly the orbitofrontal circuit, secondary to dorso medial thalamic infarction which probably plays a role in the determination of human sexual behavior. This case favors a thalamic modulation of frontal function.