Limbic dementia

Abstract

This is the second reported case, known to the authors, of complete, but selective, limbic lobe destruction in previously normally functioning central nervous systems. Both cases had an amnestic syndrome, whose characteristics were essentially similar to amnestic syndromes previously documented with less complete limbic destruction, with one difference—confabulation remained a prominent feature in the chronic stages of the memory disorder. Our patient exhibited a behavioural syndrome similar to that reported by Klüver and Bucy in monkeys with bilateral anterior temporal lobectomies. Klüver-Bucy like syndromes in man have usually been reported with surgical lesions, usually in patients with pre-existent brain disorder. Our case illustrates that the syndrome can be produced by necrotizing encephalitic lesions. We suggest that the combination of the above two syndromes is essentially a `limbic dementia'.