Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2024
First described by German neurologist Herman Oppenheim in 1898, the term “witzelsucht” comes from the German words “witz” meaning joke and “sucht” meaning addiction or obsession. This term is used to describe the pathological and inappropriate joking, pun-making, and/or childish excitement, most commonly seen in patients with lesions of the right frontal lobe, specifically the right orbitofrontal region. Witzelsucht has been reported in patients with right (or bilateral) frontal lobe brain tumors, infections, trauma, cerebral infarcts and hemorrhages, and neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal lobe dementia.
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