Brain activation and sexual arousal in healthy, heterosexual males
Brain activation and sexual arousal in healthy, heterosexual males
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DOI：
10.1093/brain/awf108
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发表时间：
2002-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
14.5
通讯作者：
Atlas, SW
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Arnow, BA;Desmond, JE;Atlas, SW
尽管大脑在性功能中起着核心作用，但人们对大脑激活和性反应之间的关系知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们采用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）检查一组年轻，健康，异性恋男性的大脑激活和性唤起之间的关系。每个受试者被暴露在两个序列的视频材料组成的明确色情（E），放松（R）和体育（S）段在一个不可预测的顺序。使用定制的气动压力袖带收集阴茎肿胀的数据。传统的区组分析使用性唤起和非唤起视频剪辑之间的对比和回归使用阴茎肿胀作为协变量的利益进行。在这两种类型的分析中，计算每例受试者的对比度图像，随后将这些图像用于随机效应分析。在右侧岛下区域（包括屏状核、左侧尾状核和壳核、右侧枕中回/颞中回、双侧扣带回和右侧感觉运动区和运动前区）观察到与阴茎肿胀特异性相关的强烈激活。在右侧下丘脑中观察到较小但显著的激活。在区组分析中发现很少有显著的激活。研究结果的影响进行了讨论。我们的研究证明了在功能磁共振成像环境中检查大脑激活/性反应关系的可行性，并揭示了一些大脑结构，其激活与性唤起时间锁定。
Despite the brain's central role in sexual function, little is known about relationships between brain activation and sexual response. In this study, we employed functional MRI (fMRI) to examine relationships between brain activation and sexual arousal in a group of young, healthy, heterosexual males. Each subject was exposed to two sequences of video material consisting of explicitly erotic (E), relaxing (R) and sports (S) segments in an unpredictable order. Data on penile turgidity was collected using a custom-built pneumatic pressure cuff. Both traditional block analyses using contrasts between sexually arousing and non-arousing video clips and a regression using penile turgidity as the covariate of interest were performed. In both types of analyses, contrast images were computed for each subject and these images were subsequently used in a random effects analysis. Strong activations specifically associated with penile turgidity were observed in the right subinsular region including the claustrum, left caudate and putamen, right middle occipital/middle temporal gyri, bilateral cingulate gyrus and right sensorimotor and pre-motor regions. Smaller, but significant activation was observed in the right hypothalamus. Few significant activations were found in the block analyses. Implications of the findings are discussed. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of examining brain activation/sexual response relationships in an fMRI environment and reveals a number of brain structures whose activation is time-locked to sexual arousal.