Neural correlates of sexual arousal in homosexual and heterosexual men.

Abstract

Men exhibit much higher levels of genital and subjective arousal to sexual stimuli containing their preferred sex than they do to stimuli containing only the nonpreferred sex. This study used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how this category-specific pattern would be reflected in the brains of homosexual (n = 11) and heterosexual (n = 11) men. Comparisons of activation to preferred sexual stimuli, nonpreferred sexual stimuli, and sports stimuli revealed large networks correlated with sexual arousal, spanning multiple cortical and subcortical areas. Both homosexual and heterosexual men exhibited category-specific arousal in brain activity. Within the amygdala, greater preference-related activity was observed in homosexual men, but it is unclear whether this is a cause or a consequence of their sexuality. In a subsequent analysis of regions hypothesized to support arousal, both participant groups demonstrated widespread increases in evoked activity for preferred stimuli. Aggregate data from these regions produced significant differences between stimulus types in 16 out of 22 participants. Significant activational differences matched reported sexual orientation in 15 of these 16 participants, representing an advance in psychophysiological measures of arousal.

The DSM Diagnostic Criteria for Pedophilia

“…(The brain regions that activate during sexual arousal have already been established by fMRI studies.) Studies using fMRI technology have already demonstrated that homosexual and heterosexual teleiophiles can be accurately differentiated according to brain activity during exposure to erotic photographs of adult men and women (e.g., Safron et al, 2007). It has not yet been investigated whether fMRI can differentiate accurately between pedohebephiles and teleiophiles.…”

Can We Change Sexual Orientation?

“…Lippa (2011) assessed heterosexual men and women's sexual aversion ratings and found that the men's aversion ratings were more consistent than the women's aversion ratings (i.e., ''Having sexual relations with this person would be extremely unpleasant to me''). Safron, Barch, Bailey, Parrish, and Reber (2007) used fMRI scans to assess homosexual and heterosexual men's arousal in their brain. Safron et al did not find any region consistently activated to the non-preferred sexual stimuli, although they noted that they might not have assessed brain regions regulating aversion.…”

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).…”