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Witzelsucht (German: [ˈvɪtsl̩ˌzʊxt] "joking addiction") is a set of rare neurological symptoms characterized by a tendency to make puns, or tell inappropriate jokes or pointless stories in socially inappropriate situations. It makes one unable to read sarcasm.
A less common symptom is hypersexuality, the tendency to make sexual comments at inappropriate times or situations. Patients do not understand that their behavior is abnormal; therefore they are nonresponsive to others' reactions. This disorder is most commonly seen in patients with frontal lobe damage, particularly right frontal lobe tumors or trauma. The disorder remains named in accordance with its reviewed definition by German neurologist Hermann Oppenheim, its first description as the less focused moria (pathologic giddiness or lunatic mood)[1] by German neurologist Moritz Jastrowitz, was in 1888.[2][3]
- ^ Erickson, Jennifer M.; Quinn, Davin K.; Shorter, Edward (2016). "Moria Revisited: Translation of Moritz Jastrowitz's Description of Pathologic Giddiness". The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 28 (2): 74–76. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.15080205. PMC 6667279. PMID 26670786.
- ^ Verplaetse, Jan (2009). Localizing the Moral Sense: Neuroscience and the Search for the Cerebral Seat of Morality, 1800–1930. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781402063220.
- ^ Finger, Stanley (2001). Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function. Oxford University Press. p. 274. ISBN 9780195146943.