The Amygdala and Sexual Drive: Insights from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the amygdala and human sex drive. We compared amygdalar volume in groups of patients with or without sexual changes after temporal lobe resection and in age-matched neurologically normal subjects. Forty-five patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent surgical resection in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre completed a semistructured interview and questionnaire relating to sexual outcome after surgery. Volumetric analyses of both amygdalae were conducted on the patients' preoperative T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans and those of 46 neurologically normal c..