The aim of this fMRI study was to explore brain structures that are involved in the processing
of erotic and disgust-inducing pictures. The stimuli were chosen to trigger approach and
withdrawal tendencies, respectively. By adding sadomasochistic (SM) scenes to the design
and examining 12 subjects with and 12 subjects without sadomasochistic preferences, we
introduced a picture category that induced erotic pleasure in one sample and disgust in the
other sample. Since we also presented neutral pictures, all subjects viewed pictures of four …