Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in human males

Abstract

Despite its critical sociobiological importance, the brain processing of visual sexual stimuli has not been characterized precisely in human beings. We used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to investigate responses of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in nine healthy males presented with visual sexual stimuli of graded intensity. Statistical Parametric Mapping was used to locate brain regions whose activation was associated with the presentation of the sexual stimuli and was correlated with markers of sexual arousal. The claustrum, a region whose function had been unclear, displayed one of the highest activations. Additionally, activations were recorded in paralimbic areas (anterior cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex), in the striatum (head of caudate nucleus, putamen), and in the posterior hypothalamus. By contrast, decreased rCBF was observed in several temporal areas. Based on these results, we propose a model of the brain processes mediating the cognitive, emotional, motivational, and autonomic components of human male sexual arousal. Hum. Brain Mapping 11:162–177, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Vicarious Viewing Time: Prolonged Response Latencies for Sexually Attractive Targets as a Function of Task- or Stimulus-Specific Processing

“…For example, erotic stimuli elicit neuronal activities in brain areas commonly associated with the human reward system (e.g., Ishai, 2007;Karama et al, 2002;Mouras et al, 2003;Ponseti et al, 2006;Redouté et al, 2000;Safron et al, 2007;Stoléru et al, 1999). Visual stimuli of sexually attractive targets may also trigger schematic processes (e.g., evaluative, comparative, or associative processes, episodic memories, fantasizing).…”

Neural Correlates of Antidepressant-Related Sexual Dysfunction: A Placebo-Controlled fMRI Study on Healthy Males Under Subchronic Paroxetine and Bupropion

“…However, a significant correlation ( Figure 5) was observed between total MGH-SFQ score and averaged parameter estimates obtained from the pMCC region (voxels significant in the omnibus F-test at po0.05 corrected). This region had been selected for further investigation based on previous literature showing correlations between brain activation in the MCC with behavioral measures of sexual functioning (Redoute et al, 2000;Moulier et al, 2006;Georgiadis et al, 2010). The more the brain activation decreased under paroxetine compared with placebo, the more overall ratings of sexual dysfunction (paroxetine minus placebo) increased (r ¼ 0.42; p ¼ 0.041).…”

“…Activity of the pgACC has also been postulated to correlate with subjective sexual intensity and its hedonic value (Walter et al, 2008a) and was identified as a brain region specifically coding the interaction of sexual intensity and emotional value of a stimulus. In Redoute's model of sexual arousal, activation of rostral ACC, comprising subgenual and pregenual parts, has been ascribed to the autonomic component of sexual behavior mediating physiological readiness (Redoute et al, 2000). It is of note though that sgACC and pgACC have also been characterized as brain regions coding emotional contents in a wider context (Beckmann et al, 2009), of which autonomic reactions and self-referential processes may represent certain subsets.…”

“…To control for the effects of serotonergic vs dopaminergic/noradrenergic antidepressant treatment, we set up a randomized crossover design with each subject receiving paroxetine, bupropion and placebo over the course of 1 week separated by sufficient washout phases. Stimulation with erotic video clips has already been demonstrated as a reliable tool to investigate brain regions related to sexual functioning (Redoute et al, 2000) and to contrast medication effects on these brain regions in patients suffering from depression (Kim et al, 2009). Under placebo, we expected to find activation in those brain regions that are reported to be active during erotic stimulation according to previous fMRI studies, that is, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), lateral occipital cortex, insula, amygdala, hypothalamus, thalamus, and the ventral striatum (Arnow et al, 2002;Ferretti et al, 2005;Moulier et al, 2006;Mouras, 2004;Redoute et al, 2000;Walter et al, 2008a, b).…”

“…Stimulation with erotic video clips has already been demonstrated as a reliable tool to investigate brain regions related to sexual functioning (Redoute et al, 2000) and to contrast medication effects on these brain regions in patients suffering from depression (Kim et al, 2009). Under placebo, we expected to find activation in those brain regions that are reported to be active during erotic stimulation according to previous fMRI studies, that is, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), lateral occipital cortex, insula, amygdala, hypothalamus, thalamus, and the ventral striatum (Arnow et al, 2002;Ferretti et al, 2005;Moulier et al, 2006;Mouras, 2004;Redoute et al, 2000;Walter et al, 2008a, b). In line with previous studies of blunted ventral striatal activation under SSRIs (McCabe et al, 2010), paroxetine was expected to exert inhibitory effects on reward system activation, the latter being identified as specifically elicited by erotic stimulation as a primary reward (Walter et al, 2008a).…”