London - Lovers who forget their partner's name during sex can blame a genuine medical condition, an expert reported today.
The condition, known as transient global amnesia, can make people forget what they are doing during sex, said Dr Russell Lane of the West London Neurosciences Centre at Charing Cross Hospital.
Writing to the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, he described the case of a man who repeatedly experienced the effect during sex.
"The wife of a 64-year-old man complained that on five separate occasions between March 1977 and October 1995, her husband had exhibited stereotyped attacks of amnesia after intercourse," Dr Lane wrote.
"During these events he would repeatedly ask questions such as `what are we doing?', `what time of year is it?' and `what time of day is it?' "
The phenomenon, which he dubbed "coital amnesia", is not uncommon and may be linked with migraine or epilepsy, although the connection is unclear, Dr Lane said.