Klüver–Bucy syndrome

a condition resulting from damage to both medial temporal lobes and marked by hypersexuality and a tendency to examine all objects by touch or by placing them in the mouth. Other symptoms may include visual agnosia (inability to visually recognize objects), decreased emotional responsivity (including loss of normal fear and anger responses), distractibility, and memory loss. The syndrome is observed in laboratory animals following temporal lobe ablation and, rarely, in humans following extensive bilateral temporal damage caused by herpes-simplex encephalitis or trauma. [Heinrich Klüver (1897–1975), German-born U.S. neurologist; Paul Bucy (1904–1992), U.S. neurosurgeon]

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Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

sun compass

the use of the sun as a directional stimulus in orientation and navigation. Because the sun appears to move across the sky during the day and has different trajectories in different seasons, a sun compass must be coupled with some form of time estimation. To head south at 9 a.m., one needs to keep the sun on the left, but at 3 p.m., one needs to keep the sun on the right. Studies of several species, ranging from bees to fish and birds, have demonstrated a time-compensated sun compass. For nocturnal species, there is evidence of a star compass.