Physiological and psychological mechanisms in the relationship between stress and sexual response in humans

人类压力与性反应关系的生理和心理机制

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-06659
• 负责人: Hamilton, Lisa
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: Mount Allison University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=764032
• 关键词: Physiological; psychological; mechanisms; relationship; between

Research on the effects of stress on sexual/reproductive function is contradictory. The dominant hypothesis states that stress is detrimental to sexual and reproductive function. Chronic stress can potentially impair sexual function in females because pregnancy is very costly in terms of energy, and because young are less likely to survive in a stressful environment. Chronic stress has also been shown to impair fertility in males, but it is unclear if it affects their sexual behavior. Physiologically, the acute stress response is designed to activate the energy resources necessary for survival and to suppress all unnecessary functions, including sexual function. While the negative effects of stress on sexual function have been demonstrated in many studies, there have also been several studies conducted with both human and non-human animal samples showing that stress can also enhance sexual response. The overarching objective of the proposed line of research is to study the underlying mechanisms that can explain both the facilitatory and inhibitory effects of acute and chronic stress on sexual function in humans to develop a model that incorporates interactions between biological, psychological, and social/environmental factors. Mechanisms to be tested include cognitive changes (attention & distraction), sympathetic nervous system activity, and adrenal and gonadal hormones. Objectives for this study include the following. 1) Develop a model that incorporates measures of SNS activity, hormones, and cognitive changes that occur in response to acute and chronic stress to determine how these variables affect sexual responding. 2) Understand how individual differences in stress sensitivity and allostatic load affect the relationship between stress and sexual response. 3) Examine gender/sex differences in the relationship between stress and sexual response. A majority of the previous work on the relationship between stress and sexual function in humans has focused on measuring the psychological mechanisms that might explain this relationship, such as anxiety and distraction. In contrast, much of what is known about the physiological mechanisms involved in the relationship between stress and sexual function is drawn from non-human animal models. While the animal literature has been informative, this work has focused almost exclusively on the interaction between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hormones (e.g., corticosteroids) and their effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis (the HPA/HPG interaction model). The present research will test hypotheses developed from animal models on human subjects and also expand the models to include measurement of cardiovascular components of stress and sexual response and additional adrenal hormones. It will also include psychological assessments of stress and related factors.

关于压力对性/生殖功能影响的研究是矛盾的。主流假说认为压力对性功能和生殖功能有害。长期的压力可能会损害女性的性功能，因为怀孕是非常耗费精力的，而且年轻的婴儿在压力环境中生存的可能性更小。长期的压力也会影响男性的生育能力，但目前还不清楚它是否会影响他们的性行为。生理上，急性应激反应的目的是激活生存所需的能量资源，抑制所有不必要的功能，包括性功能。虽然压力对性功能的负面影响已经在许多研究中得到证实，但也有几项针对人类和非人类动物样本的研究表明，压力也能增强性反应。提出的研究路线的总体目标是研究可以解释急性和慢性应激对人类性功能的促进和抑制作用的潜在机制，以建立一个结合生物，心理和社会/环境因素之间相互作用的模型。需要测试的机制包括认知变化（注意力和注意力分散）、交感神经系统活动、肾上腺激素和性腺激素。本研究的目的包括以下内容。1)建立一个模型，将社交网络活动、激素和对急性和慢性应激反应的认知变化纳入其中，以确定这些变量如何影响性反应。2)了解应激敏感性和适应负荷的个体差异如何影响应激与性反应之间的关系。3)检查压力和性反应之间关系的性别差异。之前关于人类压力和性功能之间关系的大部分研究都集中在测量可能解释这种关系的心理机制上，比如焦虑和分心。相比之下，关于压力和性功能之间关系的生理机制，我们所知的大部分都是从非人类动物模型中得出的。虽然动物文献已经提供了丰富的信息，但这项工作几乎只关注下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴激素（如皮质类固醇）之间的相互作用及其对下丘脑-垂体-性腺（HPG）轴的影响（HPA /HPG相互作用模型）。目前的研究将在人类受试者身上测试动物模型的假设，并扩展模型，包括测量压力和性反应的心血管成分以及额外的肾上腺激素。它还将包括对压力和相关因素的心理评估。