Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T17:15:57.432Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Serial Cognitive Profiles in Levodopa-induced Hypersexuality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

N. S. Harvey*
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Glossop Road, Sheffield S10 2JF

Abstract

A patient with recent-onset Parkinson's disease was tested for mood, physical disability, and cognition, before treatment and then during and after a period of levodopa-induced hypersexuality. The effects of different anti-Parkinsonian drugs on cognition and behaviour are described. The unique cognitive data from this case support the hypothesis that hypersexuality is a manifestation of enhanced libido and not frontal disinhibition.

Type
Point of View
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1988 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baraldi, M. & Bertolini, A. (1974) Penile erections induced by amantadine in male rats. Life Sciences, 14, 12311235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J. & Erbaugh, J. (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 5363.Google Scholar
Bés, A., Guell, A., Fabre, N., Dupui, P., Victor, G. & Géraud, G. (1983) Cerebral blood flow studied by Xenon-133 inhalation technique in parkinsonism: loss of hyperfrontal pattern. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow Metabolism, 3, 3337.Google Scholar
Duvoisin, R. C. & Yahr, M. D. (1972) Behavioural abnormalities occurring in parkinsonism during treatment with L-dopa. In L-Dopa and Behaviour (ed. Malitz, S.). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Goodwin, F. K. (1971) Psychiatric side effects of levodopa in man. Journal of the American Medical Association, 218, 19151920.Google Scholar
Gotham, A.-M., Brown, R. G. & Marsden, C. D. (1986) Levodopa treatment may benefit or impair “frontal” function in Parkinson's disease. The Lancet, ii, 971972.Google Scholar
Guell, A., Géraud, G., Janzac, P. H., Victor, G. & Arné-Bés, M. C. (1982) Effects of a dopamine agonist (piribedil) on cerebral blood flow in man. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow Metabolism, 2, 255257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, N. S. (1986) Psychiatric disorders in Parkinsonism. 2: Organic cerebral states and drug reactions. Psychosomatics, 27, 175184.Google Scholar
Lees, A. J. & Smith, E. (1983) Cognitive deficits in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. Brain, 106, 257270.Google Scholar
Malmnäs, C. O. (1976) The significance of dopamine, versus other catecholamines, for L-dopa induced facilitation of sexual behaviour in the castrated male rat. Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behaviour, 4, 521526.Google Scholar
Nelson, N. E. (1976) A modified card sorting test sensitive to frontal lobe deficits. Cortex, 12, 313324.Google Scholar
Newcombe, F. (1969) Missile Wounds of the Brain. Oxford Neurological Monographs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
O'Brien, C. P., DiGiacomo, J. N., Fahn, S. & Schwarz, G. A. (1971) Mental effects of high-dosage levodopa. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 6163.Google Scholar
Paglietti, E., Quarantotti, B. P., Mereu, G. & Gessa, G. L. (1978) Apomorphine and L-dopa lower ejaculation threshold in the male rat. Physiology & Behaviour, 20, 559562.Google Scholar
Quinn, N. P., Marsden, C. D. & Parkes, J. D. (1982) Complicated response fluctuations in Parkinson's disease: response to intravenous infusion of levodopa. The Lancet, ii, 412415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, N. P., Toone, B., Lang, A. E., Marsden, C. D. & Parkes, J. D. (1983) Dopa dose-dependent sexual deviation. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 296298.Google Scholar
Rinne, U. K. (1983) Problems associated with longterm levodopa treatment of Parkinson's disease. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, Suppl. 95, 1926.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tagliamonte, A. P., Tagliamonte, G. L. G. & Brodie, B. B. (1969) Compulsive sexual activity induced by p-chlorophenylalanine in normal and pinealectomized male rats. Science, 166,14331435.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1955) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. New York: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wüerthele, S. M. & Moore, K. E. (1977) Studies on the mechanisms of L-DOPA-induced depletion of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the mouse brain. Life Science, 20, 16751680.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.