amygdala

Who were Kluver and Bucy?

Answer: Heinrich Kluver and Paul Bucy were two scientists who are best known for their work characterizing a behavioral disorder called Kluver Bucy syndrome.

kluver bucy syndrome monkey

Heinrich Kluver (1897-1979) was a German American psychologist. He studied at the University of Hamburg, University of Berlin, and Stanford University.

Paul Bucy (1904-1992) was an American neurosurgeon. He studied at the University of Iowa, and completed his medical training at Ford Hospital and the University of Chicago.

They are best known for their studies of a behavioral disorder that was named after them, Kluver-Bucy syndrome. In Kluver Bucy syndrome, there is an injury to the amygdala in the medial temporal lobe. Patients with Kluver-Bucy syndrome may present with a diminished emotional response to fearful stimuli, both retrograde and anterograde amnesia, changes in eating behavior, visual agnosia, and hypersexuality.

These symptoms are also present in nonhuman primates that have had their temporal lobes removed. The symptoms were first discovered after Kluver’s experiments into the effects of the psychoactive substance mescaline. Some of these primates displayed unusual behaviors, including an increased likelihood of exploring novel objects with their mouth (hyperorality), decreased fear responding, and changes in feeding.