Two theories of sexual risk taking (disinhibition and alcohol myopia) were tested using genital measures of sexual response and computer measures of sexual risk propensity. A total of 44 men and women completed two sessions comparing responses to erotic films while consuming alcohol (breath alcohol doses were .025 g/kg and .08 g/kg) or juice alone. After consuming alcohol, more sexual arousal w...

A new model of women's sexual response moves the focus from spontaneous drive with its markers of sexual thoughts, fantasies, and conscious urge to be sexual to an inherently responsive cycle. The model reflects intimacy-based sexual motivation, processing of sexual stimuli to arousal, cognitive, and affective appraisal of that arousal. Sexual desire to continue the physical experience is acces...

In two experiments we assessed the impact of aggression on nonrapists' sexual arousal. In the first, both male subjects (n = 37) and female subjects (n = 43) reported more sexual arousal in response to nonaggressive than to aggressive depictions when the portrayals were sexually explicit, but the opposite occurred when the portrayals were nonsexual. Only male subjects (N = 359) participated in ...

There is a severe lack of knowledge regarding the brain regions involved in human sexual performance in general, and female orgasm in particular. We used [15O]-H2O positron emission tomography to measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 12 healthy women during a nonsexual resting state, clitorally induced orgasm, sexual clitoral stimulation (sexual arousal control) and imitation of orgasm...

BACKGROUND The present investigation was designed to provide the first empirical examination of the effects of ephedrine sulfate, an alpha- and beta-adrenergic agonist, on subjective and physiological sexual arousal in women. The purpose was to help elucidate the effects of increased peripheral adrenergic activity on sexual response in women. METHODS Twenty sexually functional women participa...

Although female sexual dysfunction is a problem with low priority, it can have a profound impact on quality of life. In women, the cycle of sexual response begins in the brain, where a memory, an image, a scent, music, or a fantasy acts as a trigger to prompt sexual arousal. Thus, the brain is really the key and starting place for treatment of sexual dysfunction. Decreased libido, altered arous...

Heightened states of generalized CNS arousal are proposed here to facilitate sexual arousal in both males and females. Genetic, pharmacologic and biophysical mechanisms by which this happens are reviewed. Moreover, stimulation of the genital epithelia, as triggers of sex behavior, is hypothesized to lead to a greater generalized arousal in a manner that intensifies sexual motivation. Finally, l...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Nowadays the mechanism of homosexuality is little known. Few studies have been carried out to explore the brain functional changes of homosexual men during sexual arousal. We used functional MR imaging (fMRI) to determine whether the patterns of brain activation in homosexual and heterosexual men differed during visually evoked sexual arousal. MATERIALS AND METHODS To a...

Sexual offenses cause significant harm to victims, their families, and society as a whole and thus are an important social concern. While it is commonly assumed that sexual offenses are committed solely by males, research has shown that approximately 5 % of sex crimes in the USA and Canada are committed by females. Penile plethysmography (PPG) is a method to measure male genital arousal, which ...

BACKGROUND Several pharmacotherapeutic approaches have confirmed the influence of neuroendocrine parameters on sexual desire, function, and fantasies in men; however, the relevance of acute neuroendocrine changes in mediating heightened sexual drive remains unknown. We recently demonstrated that plasma prolactin substantially increases following orgasm in healthy men, suggesting a feedback mech...