A quantitative meta‐analysis on cue‐induced male sexual arousal

S Kühn, J Gallinat - The journal of sexual medicine, 2011 - academic.oup.com
The journal of sexual medicine, 2011academic.oup.com
Introduction Visually induced sexual arousal is a common occurrence in human behavior.
The cerebral underpinnings of this response have been explored in recent neuroimaging
studies. Aim We set out to test the strength of evidence for the presence of a core network of
brain regions involved in male sexual arousal elicited by erotic stimuli. Methods Eleven
functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that presented erotic visual stimuli and
compared the associated brain activity with the brain activity elicited by neutral visual stimuli …
Introduction
Visually induced sexual arousal is a common occurrence in human behavior. The cerebral underpinnings of this response have been explored in recent neuroimaging studies.
Aim
We set out to test the strength of evidence for the presence of a core network of brain regions involved in male sexual arousal elicited by erotic stimuli.
Methods
Eleven functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that presented erotic visual stimuli and compared the associated brain activity with the brain activity elicited by neutral visual stimuli were identified.
Main Outcomes Measures
Activation likelihood estimation was employed to perform quantitative meta‐analyses on coordinates of brain activation in order to assess significant concordance across studies.
Results
The meta‐analysis included studies on heterosexual males and revealed consistent activation in the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC), insula, fusiform gyrus, precentral gyrus, parietal cortex, and occipital cortex across studies. Moreover, we explored brain responses associated with a physiological marker of sexual arousal (penile tumescence) and found concurrence in hypothalamus, thalamus, bilateral insula, ACC, postcentral gyrus, and occipital gyrus.
Conclusions
This is the first quantitative meta‐analysis on sexual cue reactivity and identifies a neural network consisting of cognitive (parietal cortex, ACC, thalamus, insula), emotional (amygdala, insula), motivational (precentral gyrus, parietal cortex), and physiological (hypothalamus/thalamus, insula) components constituting a core circuit of male sexual arousal in humans.
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