Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in human males

J Redouté, S Stoléru, MC Grégoire… - Human brain …, 2000 - Wiley Online Library
J Redouté, S Stoléru, MC Grégoire, N Costes, L Cinotti, F Lavenne, D Le Bars, MG Forest…
Human brain mapping, 2000Wiley Online Library
Despite its critical sociobiological importance, the brain processing of visual sexual stimuli
has not been characterized precisely in human beings. We used Positron Emission
Tomography (PET) to investigate responses of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in nine
healthy males presented with visual sexual stimuli of graded intensity. Statistical Parametric
Mapping was used to locate brain regions whose activation was associated with the
presentation of the sexual stimuli and was correlated with markers of sexual arousal. The …
Abstract
Despite its critical sociobiological importance, the brain processing of visual sexual stimuli has not been characterized precisely in human beings. We used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to investigate responses of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in nine healthy males presented with visual sexual stimuli of graded intensity. Statistical Parametric Mapping was used to locate brain regions whose activation was associated with the presentation of the sexual stimuli and was correlated with markers of sexual arousal. The claustrum, a region whose function had been unclear, displayed one of the highest activations. Additionally, activations were recorded in paralimbic areas (anterior cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex), in the striatum (head of caudate nucleus, putamen), and in the posterior hypothalamus. By contrast, decreased rCBF was observed in several temporal areas. Based on these results, we propose a model of the brain processes mediating the cognitive, emotional, motivational, and autonomic components of human male sexual arousal. Hum. Brain Mapping 11:162–177, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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