Functional MRI of the Brain during Orgasm in Women
Functional MRI of the Brain during Orgasm in Women
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DOI：
10.1080/10532528.2005.10559829
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发表时间：
2005-03
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
B. Komisaruk;B. Whipple
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
B. Komisaruk;B. Whipple
摘要 被诊断为 T10 或更高级别的完全性脊髓损伤 (SCI) 的女性报告称，阴道-宫颈机械自刺激 (CSS) 产生了感觉。在本文中，我们回顾了此类女性对性唤起和性高潮的大脑反应，并进一步假设这种意想不到的感知的传入途径是由绕过脊髓的迷走神经提供的。使用功能磁共振成像 (fMRI)，我们确定迷走神经投射到的延髓区域（孤束核或 NTS）被 CSS 激活。我们还使用了一种客观测量方法，即 CSS 诱导的对实验引起的手指疼痛的镇痛反应，以确定该通路的功能。在 CSS 期间，一些女性经历了性高潮。性高潮期间激活的大脑区域包括下丘脑室旁核、杏仁核、终纹视前区伏隔床核、海马、基底神经节（尤其是壳核）、小脑、前扣带皮层、岛叶皮质、顶叶皮质和额叶皮质以及下脑干（中央灰质、中脑网状结构和 NTS）。我们的结论是，迷走神经为阴道-宫颈敏感性提供了脊髓旁路通路，并且该通路的激活可以产生镇痛和性高潮。
Abstract Women diagnosed with complete spinal cord injury (SCI) at T10 or higher report sensations generated by vaginal-cervical mechanical self-stimulation (CSS). In this paper we review brain responses to sexual arousal and orgasm in such women, and further hypothesize that the afferent pathway for this unexpected perception is provided by the Vagus nerves, which bypass the spinal cord. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we ascertained that the region of the medulla oblongata to which the Vagus nerves project (the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract or NTS) is activated by CSS. We also used an objective measure, CSS-induced analgesia response to experimentally induced finger pain, to ascertain the functionality of this pathway. During CSS, several women experienced orgasms. Brain regions activated during orgasm included the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, amygdala, accumbens-bed nucleus of the stria terminalis-preoptic area, hippocampus, basal ganglia (especially putamen), cerebellum, and anterior cingulate, insular, parietal and frontal cortices, and lower brainstem (central gray, mesencephalic reticular formation, and NTS). We conclude that the Vagus nerves provide a spinal cord-bypass pathway for vaginal-cervical sensibility and that activation of this pathway can produce analgesia and orgasm.