NORD gratefully acknowledges Robert C. Bransfield, MD, DLFAPA, PC, Clinical Associate Professor at Robert Wood Johnson UNDNJ Medical School and Associate Director of Psychiatry, Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, New Jersey, for assistance in the preparation of this report.
Klüver-Bucy syndrome is a very rare cerebral neurological disorder associated with damage to both temporal lobes resulting in abnormalities in memory, social and sexual functioning and idiosyncratic behaviors.
Major symptoms may include excessive oral tendencies with an urge to put all kinds of objects into the mouth, hypermetamorophosis (a need to explore everything), memory loss, emotional changes, extreme sexual behavior, indifference, placidity, visual distractibility and visual agnosia (difficulty identifying and processing visual information). An almost uncontrollable appetite for food may also be noted. There may also be other symptoms associated with dementia (loss of reason) as well.
Klüver-Bucy syndrome is the result of damage to the temporal lobes of the brain. This may be the result of trauma to the brain itself, or the result of other degenerative brain diseases, tumors, or it can be caused by some brain infections, most commonly herpes simplex encephalitis (a viral brain infection).
Klüver-Bucy syndrome is a very rare disease that affects males and females equally.
Treatment of Klüver-Bucy syndrome is supportive and psychotropics that may be effective for some of the associated symptoms.
Information on current clinical trials is posted on the Internet at www.clinicaltrials.gov. All studies receiving U.S. Government funding, and some supported by private industry, are posted on this government web site.
For information about clinical trials being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, contact the NIH Patient Recruitment Office:
Tollfree: (800) 411-1222
TTY: (866) 411-1010
Email: [email protected]
Some current clinical trials also are posted on the following page on the NORD website:
https://rarediseases.org/for-patients-and-families/information-resources/news-patient-recruitment/
For information about clinical trials sponsored by private sources, contact:
www.centerwatch.com
For information about clinical trials conducted in Europe, contact:
https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/
TEXTBOOKS
Adams RD, et al., eds. Principles of Neurology, 6th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies;1997:450,517.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Carroll BT, et al., Anatomic basis of Klüver-Bucy syndrome. J NeuropsychiatryClinNeurosci.1999 Winter;11(1):116.
Slaughter J, et al., Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment of post-traumatic Klüver-Bucy syndrome. Brain Inj.1999;13:59-62.
Pradhan S. et al., KlüverBucy syndrome in young children. ClinNeurolNeurosurg. 1998;100:254-58.
Hayman LA, et al., KlüverBucy syndrome after bilateral selective damage of amygdala and its cortical connections. J Neuropsychiatry ClinNeurosci.1998;10:354-58.
Goscinski I, et al., The Klüver-Bucy syndrome. J Neurol.1997;41:269-72.
INTERNET
NINDS Klüver-Bucy Syndrome Information Page. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Kl%C3%BCver-Bucy-Syndrome-Information-Page Date last modified: May 25, 2017. Accessed March 19, 2018.
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