Witzelsucht - Hypersexuality in The Brain

Hypersexuality in The Brain

The amygdala plays a significant role in processing emotional stimuli and producing affective responses, which in turn is utilized in social interactions. The amygdala regulates the attachment of emotional significance to corresponding sensory stimuli. Lesions in the amygdala do not disrupt a specific sexual mechanism. Instead, they disturb the emotional processing of stimuli, which causes random and/or inappropriate responses. The amygdala has a positive effect on sexual behavior by allowing the appropriate attachment of emotional significance to external sexual stimuli. Previous human studies have shown an association between temporal lobe dysfunction and altered sexual behavior. There has also been evidence of hypersexual behavior after epileptic seizures. Epileptic foci can be found on the temporal lobe, near the amygdala. It has been postulated that there is an increased likelihood that a patient would exhibit hypersexuality directly after a seizure. Due to limited cases studying the connection between witzelsucht and hypersexuality, studies concerning epileptic foci on the temporal lobe could be looked at to gain more information.