Erotic and disgust-inducing pictures—Differences in the hemodynamic responses of the brain

Rapid discrimination of visual scene content in the human brain

“…It has been shown recently that the prefrontal cortex of monkeys contains neurons that respond differently to specific categories of complex visual images regardless of their physical similarity (Freedman et al, 2003). These data, as well as data from neuroimaging studies of visual scene categorization (Fize et al, 2000) and processing of erotic content (Karama et al, 2002, Stark et al, 2005 suggest that a selective, content-specific processing of erotic material is likely to engage areas in the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. Moreover, one of these fMRI studies indicated that early differential ERP responses related to the categorization of natural images can be generated by activity in the fusiform gyrus and cingulate cortex (Fize et al, 2000).…”

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

“…Furthermore, differential effects under bupropion were found over a prolonged time course during video stimulation even when compared with placebo. Modulation of ventral striatal activation by the subjectively perceived sexual intensity of a stimulus has been described before (Walter et al, 2008a), and changes in activity of the ventral striatum have been reported in various contexts of a rewarding sexual stimulation (Hamann et al, 2004;Stark et al, 2005). Dopamine agonists have been shown to induce penile erection in animals and humans (Carson, 2007) and have been suggested as promising agents for the treatment of sexual dysfunction (Albersen et al, 2010).…”

Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice

“…Neural evidence suggests that the same dopaminergic reward circuitry of the brain is activated for a wide variety of different reinforcers (Camerer, Loewenstein, and Prelec 2005). That is, a similar set of brain reward regions responds in common to very distinct categories of reward-for example, beautiful female faces and erotic stimuli activate the classical reward circuitry that had already been associated with drug and monetary rewards in prior research (Aharon et al 2001;Stark et al 2005). Theoretically, a general neurological system processing rewards may give rise to nonspecific effects (Wadhwa, Shiv, and Nowlis 2006).…”

“…Individuals with a highly sensitive BAS exhibit a greater tendency to respond to rewards with an increased motivation to engage in reward-seeking behaviors and a greater tendency to act on the hedonic impact of reinforcers. Since erotic stimuli activate the human reward circuitry (Stark et al 2005) and because sensitivity to rewarding stimuli can vary from one individual to the next (Carver and White 1994;Torrubia et al 2001), we hypothesize that the extent to which one is sensitive to rewards moderates the effects of sexual cues on delay discounting of monetary rewards.…”