Sample records for physiological sexual arousal
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Handy, Ariel B; Stanton, Amelia M; Pulverman, Carey S; Meston, Cindy M
2018-01-01
Many sexual psychophysiologic studies have failed to find differences in physiologic genital arousal between women with and those without sexual dysfunction. However, differences in self-reported (ie, perceived) measures of genital responses between these 2 groups of women have been noted. To determine whether women with and without sexual dysfunction differ on measures of physiologic and perceived genital arousal based on type of analytic technique used, to explore differences in perceived genital arousal, and to assess the relation between physiologic and perceived genital arousal. Data from 5 studies (N = 214) were used in this analysis. Women were categorized into 3 groups: women with arousal-specific sexual dysfunction (n = 40), women with decreased sexual function (n = 72), and women who were sexually functional (n = 102). Women viewed an erotic film while their physiologic genital arousal was measured using a vaginal photoplethysmograph. After watching the film, women completed a self-report measure of perceived genital arousal. There were differences in vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA) levels and association of VPA with perceived genital sensations based on level of sexual function. Commonly used methods of analysis failed to identify significant differences in VPA among these groups of women. When VPA data were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling, significant differences emerged. Notably, women with arousal-specific dysfunction exhibited lower VPA than sexually functional women at the beginning of the assessment. As the erotic film progressed, women with arousal-specific dysfunction became aroused at a faster rate than sexually functional women, and these 2 groups ultimately reached a similar level of VPA. Sexually functional women reported the highest levels of perceived genital responses among the 3 groups of women. No significant relation between VPA and perceived genital arousal emerged. Women's perception of their genital responses could play
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Stanton, Amelia; Meston, Cindy
2017-10-03
Heart rate variability (HRV) has recently been associated with female sexual function (Stanton, Lorenz, Pulverman, & Meston, 2015). Below-average HRV was identified as a possible risk factor for sexual arousal dysfunction and overall sexual dysfunction in women. Based on this newly established relationship between HRV and female sexual function, the present study examined the effect of autogenic training to increase HRV on acute physiological and subjective sexual arousal in women. Specifically, vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA), an index of genital sexual arousal, and subjective sexual arousal were assessed in 33 sexually functional women, aged 18 to 27, before and after a short session of autogenic training. Autogenic training, a relaxation technique that restores the balance between the activity of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system, has been shown to significantly increase HRV (Miu, Heilman, & Miclea, 2009). After autogenic training, significant increases in both VPA (p <.05) and subjective sexual arousal (p <.005) were observed. Moreover, change in HRV from pre- to postmanipulation significantly moderated changes in subjective sexual arousal (p <.05) when it was measured continuously during the presentation of the erotic stimulus. This cost-effective, easy-to-administer behavioral intervention may have important implications for increasing sexual arousal in women.
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Viewing sexual images is associated with reduced physiological arousal response to gambling loss.
Lui, Ming; Hsu, Ming
2018-01-01
Erotic imagery is one highly salient emotional signal that exists everywhere in daily life. The impact of sexual stimuli on human decision-making, however, has rarely been investigated. This study examines the impact of sexual stimuli on financial decision-making under risk. In each trial, either a sexual or neutral image was presented in a picture categorization task before a gambling task. Thirty-four men made gambling decisions while their physiological arousal, measured by skin conductance responses (SCRs), was recorded. Behaviorally, the proportion of gambling decisions did not differ between the sexual and neutral image trials. Physiologically, participants had smaller arousal differences, measured in micro-siemen per dollar, between losses and gains in the sexual rather than in the neutral image trials. Moreover, participants' SCRs to losses relative to gains predicted the proportion of gambling decisions in the neutral image trials but not in the sexual image trials. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that the presence of emotionally salient sexual images reduces attentional and arousal-related responses to gambling losses. Our results are consistent with the theory of loss attention involving increased cognitive investment in losses compared to gains. The findings also have potential practical implications for our understanding of the specific roles of sexual images in human financial decision making in everyday life, such as gambling behaviors in the casino.
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The neurophysiology of sexual arousal.
Schober, Justine M; Pfaff, Donald
2007-09-01
Our understanding of the process and initiation of sexual arousal is being enhanced by both animal and human studies, inclusive of basic science principles and research on clinical outcomes. Sexual arousal is dependent on neural (sensory and cognitive) factors, hormonal factors, genetic factors and, in the human case, the complex influences of culture and context. Sexual arousal activates the cognitive and physiologic processes that can eventually lead to sexual behavior. Sexual arousal comprises a particular subset of central nervous system arousal functions which depend on primitive, fundamental arousal mechanisms that cause generalized brain activity, but are manifest in a sociosexual context. The neurophysiology of sexual arousal is seen as a bidirectional system universal to all vertebrates. The following review includes known neural and genomic mechanisms of a hormone-dependent circuit for simple sex behavior. New information about hormone effects on causal steps related to sex hormones' nuclear receptor isoforms expressed by hypothalamic neurons continues to enrich our understanding of this neurophysiology.
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Stanton, Amelia M; Hixon, J Gregory; Nichols, Lindsey M; Meston, Cindy M
2018-01-01
Below average heart rate variability (HRV) has been associated with sexual arousal dysfunction and overall sexual dysfunction in women. Autogenic training, a psychophysiologic relaxation technique, has been shown to increase HRV. In a recent study, sexually healthy women experienced acute increases in physiologic (ie, genital) and subjective sexual arousal after 1 brief session of autogenic training. To build on these findings by testing the effects of a single session of autogenic training on sexual arousal in a sample of women who reported decreased or absent sexual arousal for at least 6 months. Genital sexual arousal, subjective sexual arousal, and perceived genital sensations were assessed in 25 women 20 to 44 years old before and after listening to a 22-minute autogenic training recording. HRV was assessed with electrocardiography. Change in genital sexual arousal, subjective sexual arousal, and perceived genital sensations from the pre-manipulation erotic film to the post-manipulation erotic film. Marginally significant increases in discrete subjective sexual arousal (P = .051) and significant increases in perceived genital sensations (P = .018) were observed. In addition, degree of change in HRV significantly moderated increases in subjective arousal measured continuously over time (P autogenic training, and other interventions that aim to increase HRV, could be a useful addition to treatment protocols for women who are reporting a lack of subjective arousal or decreased genital sensations. There are few treatment options for women with arousal problems. We report on a new psychosocial intervention that could improve arousal. Limitations include a relatively small sample and the lack of a control group. Our findings indicate that autogenic training significantly improves acute subjective arousal and increases perceived genital sensations in premenopausal women with self-reported arousal concerns. Stanton AM, Hixon JG, Nichols LM, Meston CM. One Session of
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Sexual arousal, is it for mammals only?
Ball, Gregory F.; Balthazart, Jacques
2012-01-01
Sexual arousal has many dimensions and has consequently been defined in various ways. In humans sexual arousal can be assessed based in part on verbal communication. In male non-human mammalian species it has been argued that arousal can only be definitively inferred if the subject exhibits a penile erection in a sexual context. In non-mammalian species that lack an intromittent organ, as is the case for most avian species, the question of how to assess sexual arousal has not been thoroughly addressed. Based on studies performed in male Japanese quail, we argue that several behavioral or physiological characteristics provide suitable measures of sexual arousal in birds and probably also in other tetrapods. These indices include the performance of appetitive sexual behavior in anticipation of copulation (although anticipation and arousal are not the synonyms), the activation of specific brain areas as identified by the detection of the expression of immediate early genes (fos, egr-1) or by 2-deoxygucose quantitative autoradiography, and above all the release of dopamine in the medial preoptic areas as measured by in vivo dialysis. Based on these criteria, it is possible to assess in birds sexual arousal in its broadest sense but meeting the more restrictive definition of arousal proposed for mammals (erection in an explicit sexual context) is and will probably remain impossible in birds until refinement of in vivo imaging techniques such fMRI allow us to match in different species, with and without an intromittent organ, the brain areas that are activated in the presence of specific stimuli. PMID:21073874
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Cooper, A J; Swaminath, S; Baxter, D; Poulin, C
1990-05-01
A 20 year old female pedophile exhibiting multiple paraphilias and who had been both a victim of incest and an active participant, undertook extensive clinical, psychometric, endocrine and laboratory sexual arousal studies. Her psychiatric, psychometric and physiologic arousal profiles showed similarities to those of a sizable proportion of male child molesters, especially incestors. It is suggested that laboratory arousal tests (using the vaginal photoplethysmograph) may have a role in the assessment of some female sex offenders.
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Sexual arousal, is it for mammals only?
Ball, Gregory F; Balthazart, Jacques
2011-05-01
Sexual arousal has many dimensions and has consequently been defined in various ways. In humans, sexual arousal can be assessed based in part on verbal communication. In male non-human mammalian species, it has been argued that arousal can only be definitively inferred if the subject exhibits a penile erection in a sexual context. In non-mammalian species that lack an intromittent organ, as is the case for most avian species, the question of how to assess sexual arousal has not been thoroughly addressed. Based on studies performed in male Japanese quail, we argue that several behavioral or physiological characteristics provide suitable measures of sexual arousal in birds and probably also in other tetrapods. These indices include, the performance of appetitive sexual behavior in anticipation of copulation (although anticipation and arousal are not synonymous), the activation of specific brain area as identified by the detection of the expression of immediate early genes (fos, egr-1) or by 2-deoxyglucose quantitative autoradiography, and above all, by the release of dopamine in the medial preoptic area as measured by in vivo dialysis. Based on these criteria, it is possible to assess in birds sexual arousal in its broadest sense but meeting the more restrictive definition of arousal proposed for male mammals (erection in an explicit sexual context) is and will probably remain impossible in birds until refinement of in vivo imaging techniques such fMRI allow us to match in different species, with and without an intromittent organ, the brain areas that are activated in the presence of specific stimuli. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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Brody, Stuart; Laan, Ellen; van Lunsen, Rik H. W.
2003-01-01
Many studies have found a discordance between women's genital (vaginal pulse amplitude) and subjective sexual arousal responses to erotica. We hypothesized that the association between the physiological and subjective domains would be greater for women with greater orgasmic consistency during
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Hald, Gert Martin; Stulhofer, Aleksandar; Lange, Theis
2018-03-01
Investigations of patterns of sexual arousal to certain groups of sexually explicit media (SEM) in the general population in non-laboratory settings are rare. Such knowledge could be important to understand more about the relative specificity of sexual arousal in different SEM users. (i) To investigate whether sexual arousal to non-mainstream vs mainstream SEM contents could be categorized across gender and sexual orientation, (ii) to compare levels of SEM-induced sexual arousal, sexual satisfaction, and self-evaluated sexual interests and fantasies between non-mainstream and mainstream SEM groups, and (iii) to explore the validity and predictive accuracy of the Non-Mainstream Pornography Arousal Scale (NPAS). Online cross-sectional survey of 2,035 regular SEM users in Croatia. Patterns of sexual arousal to 27 different SEM themes, sexual satisfaction, and self-evaluations of sexual interests and sexual fantasies. Groups characterized by sexual arousal to non-mainstream SEM could be identified across gender and sexual orientation. These non-mainstream SEM groups reported more SEM use and higher average levels of sexual arousal across the 27 SEM themes assessed compared with mainstream SEM groups. Only few differences were found between non-mainstream and mainstream SEM groups in self-evaluative judgements of sexual interests, sexual fantasies, and sexual satisfaction. The internal validity and predictive accuracy of the NPAS was good across most user groups investigated. The findings suggest that in classified non-mainstream SEM groups, patterns of sexual arousal might be less fixated and category specific than previously assumed. Further, these groups are not more judgmental of their SEM-related sexual arousal patterns than groups characterized by patterns of sexual arousal to more mainstream SEM content. Moreover, accurate identification of non-mainstream SEM group membership is generally possible across gender and sexual orientation using the NPAS. Hald GM
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Neural pathways in processing of sexual arousal: a dynamic causal modeling study.
Seok, J-W; Park, M-S; Sohn, J-H
2016-09-01
Three decades of research have investigated brain processing of visual sexual stimuli with neuroimaging methods. These researchers have found that sexual arousal stimuli elicit activity in a broad neural network of cortical and subcortical brain areas that are known to be associated with cognitive, emotional, motivational and physiological components. However, it is not completely understood how these neural systems integrate and modulated incoming information. Therefore, we identify cerebral areas whose activations were correlated with sexual arousal using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging and used the dynamic causal modeling method for searching the effective connectivity about the sexual arousal processing network. Thirteen heterosexual males were scanned while they passively viewed alternating short trials of erotic and neutral pictures on a monitor. We created a subset of seven models based on our results and previous studies and selected a dominant connectivity model. Consequently, we suggest a dynamic causal model of the brain processes mediating the cognitive, emotional, motivational and physiological factors of human male sexual arousal. These findings are significant implications for the neuropsychology of male sexuality.
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Meston, Cindy M.
2010-01-01
This study examined the effects of state self-focused attention on sexual arousal and trait self-consciousness on sexual arousal and function in sexually functional (n = 16) and dysfunctional (n = 16) women. Self-focused attention was induced using a 50% reflectant television screen in one of two counterbalanced sessions during which self-report and physiological sexual responses to erotic films were measured. Self-focused attention significantly decreased vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA) responses among sexually functional but not dysfunctional women, and substantially decreased correlations between self-report and VPA measures of sexual arousal. Self-focused attention did not significantly impact subjective sexual arousal in sexually functional or dysfunctional women. Trait private self-consciousness was positively related to sexual desire, orgasm, compatibility, contentment and sexual satisfaction. Public self-consciousness was correlated with sexual pain. The findings are discussed in terms of Masters and Johnson’s [Masters, W. H. & Johnson, V. E. (1970). Human sexual inadequacy. Boston: Little, Brown) concepts of “spectatoring” and “sensate focus.” PMID:15927143
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Female sexual arousal in amphibians.
Wilczynski, Walter; Lynch, Kathleen S
2011-05-01
Rather than being a static, species specific trait, reproductive behavior in female amphibians is variable within an individual during the breeding season when females are capable of reproductive activity. Changes in receptivity coincide with changes in circulating estrogen. Estrogen is highest at the point when females are ready to choose a male and lay eggs. At this time female receptivity (her probability of responding to a male vocal signal) is highest and her selectivity among conspecific calls (measured by her probability of responding to a degraded or otherwise usually unattractive male signal) is lowest. These changes occur even though females retain the ability to discriminate different acoustic characteristics of various conspecific calls. After releasing her eggs, female amphibians quickly become less receptive and more choosy in terms of their responses to male sexual advertisement signals. Male vocal signals stimulate both behavior and estrogen changes in amphibian females making mating more probable. The changes in female reproductive behavior are the same as those generally accepted as indicative of a change in female sexual arousal leading to copulation. They are situationally triggered, gated by interactions with males, and decline with the consummation of sexual reproduction with a chosen male. The changes can be triggered by either internal physiological state or by the presence of stimuli presented by males, and the same stimuli change both behavior and physiological (endocrine) state in such a way as to make acceptance of a male more likely. Thus amphibian females demonstrate many of the same general characteristics of changing female sexual state that in mammals indicate sexual arousal. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Subjective sleep quality, unstimulated sexual arousal, and sexual frequency
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rui Costa
Full Text Available Introduction: REM sleep deprivation increases unstimulated erections in rats, and total sleep deprivation increases erections during audiovisual sexual stimulation in men, but the effects of sleep problems on human unstimulated sexual arousal are unknown. Objective: We examined the associations of subjective sleep quality with unstimulated sexual arousal, satisfaction with sex life, and sexual frequency and desire over the past month. Methods: 275 Portuguese (169 women reported their anxiety, sexual arousal and sexual desire during a resting state, and completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the sexual satisfaction subscale of the LiSat scale, the Desire dimensions of the Female Sexual Function Index (women only and International Index of Erectile Function (men only. They additionally reported how many days in the past month they engaged in penile-vaginal intercourse, noncoital sex, and masturbation. Salivary testosterone (T was assayed by luminescence immunoassays. Results: Poorer sleep quality correlated with greater unstimulated sexual arousal in men with higher T levels and in women with higher T levels not taking oral contraceptives. In women with lower T, poorer subjective sleep quality correlated with greater sexual dissatisfaction. In both sexes, sleep quality was uncorrelated with sexual desire and sexual frequency over the past month. Discussion: Consistently with other studies in humans and animals, the findings are congruent with the notion that lack of sleep can increase sexual arousal, but not sexual frequency. T might play a role in the sexual arousal caused by lack of appropriate sleep.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gert Martin Hald, PhD
2018-03-01
Hald GM, Stulhofer A, Lange T, et al. Sexual Arousal and Sexually Explicit Media (SEM: Comparing Patterns of Sexual Arousal to SEM and Sexual Self-Evaluations and Satisfaction Across Gender and Sexual Orientation. Sex Med 2018;6:30–38.
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[Anatomy and physiology of sexuality].
Cour, F; Droupy, S; Faix, A; Methorst, C; Giuliano, F
2013-07-01
Knowledge of the physiology of male and female sexuality has advanced considerably. Initially there is always desire with its biological neuroendocrine components and its emotional field which is particularly marked in women. There is a distinction between "spontaneous" sexual desire related to intrinsic affective, cognitive stimuli, and fantasies, and "reactive" sexual desire in response to physical arousal. There are similarities between men and women concerning the activation of cerebral zones in sexual arousal contexts in laboratory conditions. The neural pathways for sexual arousal are similar between men and women, bringing into play the sympathetic centres of the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord and, at the sacral level, the parasympathetic center and the motoneurons controlling the muscular contractions of the pelviperineal striated muscles. Genital sensitivity is mainly transmitted by the pudendal nerve in both men and women. Sexual arousal in men consists of penile erection, and ejaculation accompanied with orgasm. In women, sexual arousal causes increase in blood to flow to the vagina leading to lubrication and to the vulva leading to the erection of the clitoris and vulvar hyperaemia. The orgasm which can be multiple in women is accompanied by contractions of the striated perineal muscles. Several neurotransmitters are closely involved in the control of sexuality at the central level: dopamine, ocytocin, serotonin, and peripheral: nitric oxide and noradrenaline in men, vasoactive intestinal peptide and neuropeptide Y in women. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.
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Sexual Arousal and Sexually Explicit Media (SEM)
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hald, Gert Martin; Stulhofer, Aleksandar; Lange, Theis
2018-01-01
-mainstream and mainstream SEM groups, and (iii) to explore the validity and predictive accuracy of the Non-Mainstream Pornography Arousal Scale (NPAS). METHODS: Online cross-sectional survey of 2,035 regular SEM users in Croatia. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Patterns of sexual arousal to 27 different SEM themes, sexual...
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Sexual arousal, is it for mammals only?
Ball, Gregory F.; Balthazart, Jacques
2010-01-01
Sexual arousal has many dimensions and has consequently been defined in various ways. In humans sexual arousal can be assessed based in part on verbal communication. In male non-human mammalian species it has been argued that arousal can only be definitively inferred if the subject exhibits a penile erection in a sexual context. In non-mammalian species that lack an intromittent organ, as is the case for most avian species, the question of how to assess sexual arousal has not been thoroughly ...
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Female Sexual Arousal Disorders
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Giraldi, Annamaria; Rellini, Alessandra H; Pfaus, James
2012-01-01
Introduction. Definitions and terminology for female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) are currently being debated. While some authors have suggested that FSAD is more a subjective response rather than a genital response, others have suggested that desire and arousal disorders should be combined...... and psychological disorders, as well as to discuss different medical and psychological assessment and treatment modalities. Methods. The experts of the International Society for Sexual Medicine's Standard Committee convened to provide a survey using relevant databases, journal articles, and own clinical experience....... Results. Female Arousal Disorders have been defined in several ways with focus on the genital or subjective response or a combination of both. The prevalence varies and increases with increasing age, especially at the time of menopause, while distress decreases with age. Arousal disorders are often...
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Sexual Arousal Patterns of Autogynephilic Male Cross-Dressers.
Hsu, Kevin J; Rosenthal, A M; Miller, David I; Bailey, J Michael
2017-01-01
Men's sexual arousal patterns have been an important window into the nature of their erotic interests. Autogynephilia is a natal male's paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of being a woman. Autogynephilic arousal per se is difficult to assess objectively, because it is inwardly focused. However, assessing sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic males in response to external stimuli is also potentially useful. For example, there is substantial association between autogynephilia and gynandromorphophilia (GAMP), or sexual attraction to gynandromorphs (GAMs), colloquially "she-males." GAMP men's sexual arousal patterns in response to GAM, female, and male stimuli have recently been characterized. In the present study, we extended this understanding by comparing the sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic male cross-dressers, GAMP men, heterosexual men, and homosexual men. Erotic stimuli included sexually explicit videos of men, women, and GAMs. Autogynephilic men were much more similar in their arousal patterns to heterosexual and GAMP men than to homosexual men. However, similar to GAMP men, autogynephilic men showed increased arousal by GAM stimuli relative to female stimuli compared with heterosexual men.
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Rummel, Jan; Nied, Laura
2017-10-01
Physiological needs that are currently unfulfilled are known to affect human cognition and behavior. The present study investigates whether and how the temporary activation of two primary physiological needs, namely hunger and sexual arousal, influence both the frequency and the contents of mind-wandering episodes. To induce hunger, one group of participants fasted for a minimum of five hours whereas another group of participants was exposed to audio material with explicit sexual content to provoke sexual arousal. Both groups as well as an additional control group, which had not received hunger instructions and had not been exposed to arousing material of any kind beforehand, performed a reading task during which mind wandering was assessed using a standard experience-sampling method. Results showed that acute hunger but not elevated sexual arousal renders the occurrence of mind-wandering episodes more likely. Induction of both hunger and sexual arousal rendered the occurrence of need-related off-task thoughts more likely and changed time orientations of mind wandering. The present findings are well in line with the assumption that unfulfilled needs regularly achieve cognitive priority and extend the cognitive-priority idea to self-generated thoughts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Pulverman, Carey S; Hixon, J Gregory; Meston, Cindy M
2015-10-01
Based on analytic techniques that collapse data into a single average value, it has been reported that women lack category specificity and show genital sexual arousal to a large range of sexual stimuli including those that both match and do not match their self-reported sexual interests. These findings may be a methodological artifact of the way in which data are analyzed. This study examined whether using an analytic technique that models data over time would yield different results. Across two studies, heterosexual (N = 19) and lesbian (N = 14) women viewed erotic films featuring heterosexual, lesbian, and gay male couples, respectively, as their physiological sexual arousal was assessed with vaginal photoplethysmography. Data analysis with traditional methods comparing average genital arousal between films failed to detect specificity of genital arousal for either group. When data were analyzed with smoothing regression splines and a within-subjects approach, both heterosexual and lesbian women demonstrated different patterns of genital sexual arousal to the different types of erotic films, suggesting that sophisticated statistical techniques may be necessary to more fully understand women's genital sexual arousal response. Heterosexual women showed category-specific genital sexual arousal. Lesbian women showed higher arousal to the heterosexual film than the other films. However, within subjects, lesbian women showed significantly different arousal responses suggesting that lesbian women's genital arousal discriminates between different categories of stimuli at the individual level. Implications for the future use of vaginal photoplethysmography as a diagnostic tool of sexual preferences in clinical and forensic settings are discussed. © 2015 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
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Psychopathology and Deviant Sexual Arousal in Incarcerated Sexual Offenders.
Serin, Ralph C.; And Others
1994-01-01
Investigates the relationship between psychopathology and deviant sexual arousal in sexual offenders (n=65), with approximately equal numbers of rapists and child molesters. Differentiating between rapists, extrafamilial pedophiles, and incest offenders revealed that the relationship between psychopathology and arousal was most apparent for…
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Female sexual arousal disorders
Giraldi, Annamaria; Rellini, Alessandra H.; Pfaus, James; Laan, Ellen
2013-01-01
Definitions and terminology for female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) are currently being debated. While some authors have suggested that FSAD is more a subjective response rather than a genital response, others have suggested that desire and arousal disorders should be combined in one entity.
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Subjective Sexual Arousal to Films of Masturbation
Mosher, Donald L.; Abramson, Paul R.
1977-01-01
A film of a male or female masturbating was viewed by 96 males and 102 females. Males reported the highest level of sexual arousal to the female film and the lowest level of arousal to the male film. Females were sexually aroused by both films. (Author)
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Sexy thoughts: effects of sexual cognitions on testosterone, cortisol, and arousal in women.
Goldey, Katherine L; van Anders, Sari M
2011-05-01
Previous research suggests that sexual stimuli increase testosterone (T) in women and shows inconsistent effects of sexual arousal on cortisol (C), but effects of cognitive aspects of arousal, rather than behaviors or sensory stimuli, are unclear. The present study examined whether sexual thoughts affect T or C and whether hormonal contraceptive (HC) use moderated this effect, given mixed findings of HC use confounding hormone responses. Participants (79 women) provided a baseline saliva sample for radioimmunoassay. We created the Imagined Social Situation Exercise (ISSE) to test effects of imagining social interactions on hormones, and participants were assigned to the experimental (sexual) or one of three control (positive, neutral, stressful) conditions. Participants provided a second saliva sample 15 min post-activity. Results indicated that for women not using HCs, the sexual condition increased T compared to the stressful or positive conditions. In contrast, HC using women in the sexual condition had decreased T relative to the stressful condition and similar T to the positive condition. The effect was specific to T, as sexual thoughts did not change C. For participants in the sexual condition, higher baseline T predicted larger increases in sexual arousal but smaller increases in T, likely due to ceiling effects on T. Our results suggest that sexual thoughts change T but not C, baseline T levels and HC use may contribute to variation in the T response to sexual thoughts, and cognitive aspects of sexual arousal affect physiology. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Women's self-rated attraction to male faces does not correspond with physiological arousal.
Hagerman, S; Woolard, Z; Anderson, K; Tatler, B W; Moore, F R
2017-10-19
There has been little work to determine whether attractiveness ratings of faces correspond to sexual or more general attraction. We tested whether a measure of women's physiological arousal (pupil diameter change) was correlated with ratings of men's facial attractiveness. In Study 1, women rated the faces of men for whom we also measured salivary testosterone. They rated each face for attractiveness, and for desirability for friendship and long- and short-term romantic relationships. Pupil diameter change was not related to subjective ratings of attractiveness, but was positively correlated with the men's testosterone. In Study 2 we compared women's pupil diameter change in response to the faces of men with high versus low testosterone, as well as in response to non-facial images pre-rated as either sexually arousing or threatening. Pupil dilation was not affected by testosterone, and increased relatively more in response to sexually arousing than threatening images. We conclude that self-rated preferences may not provide a straightforward and direct assessment of sexual attraction. We argue that future work should identify the constructs that are tapped via attractiveness ratings of faces, and support the development of methodology which assesses objective sexual attraction.
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Sexual arousal in men: a review and conceptual analysis.
Janssen, Erick
2011-05-01
Sexual arousal is an emotional/motivational state that can be triggered by internal and external stimuli and that can be inferred from central (including verbal), peripheral (including genital), and behavioral (including action tendencies and motor preparation) responses. This article, while focusing on sexual arousal in men, provides a conceptual analysis of this construct, reviews models of sexual arousal, and discusses the usefulness of perspectives derived from motivation and emotion research in improving our understanding of its determinants and behavioral correlates. In this, it considers the role of genital feedback in men's subjective sexual arousal and the connections between sexual arousal and sexual desire. Future research and definitions may increasingly focus on its central integrative functions (as opposed to its input and output characteristics). Yet, the study of sexual arousal can be expected to continue to benefit from the measurement of its genital, verbal, and behavioral components. Instances of discordance between response components suggest that they are, at least in part, under the control of different mechanisms, and it is proposed that a better understanding of sexual arousal will prove contingent on a better understanding of such mechanisms and the conditions under which they converge and diverge. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Brief Emotion Regulation Training Facilitates Arousal Control During Sexual Stimuli.
van Overveld, Mark; Borg, Charmaine
2015-01-01
Disgust, a negative emotion which evokes strong behavioral avoidance tendencies, has been associated with sexual dysfunction. Recently, it was postulated that healthy sexual functioning requires a balance between excitatory (increased sexual arousal) and inhibitory processes (lowered disgust levels). This suggests that amplification of excitatory processes (like sexual arousal) could be a valuable addition to treatments for affect-based sexual dysfunctions. The major aim of the present study was to establish whether up-regulation could effectively enhance arousal levels during sexual stimuli, and whether such a training would simultaneously reduce disgust. Students (N = 163, mean age = 20.73 years, SD = 2.35) were trained in up-regulation of affect using either a sexual arousal film (i.e., female-friendly erotic movie) or a threat arousal film clip (i.e., horror movie), while control groups viewed the films without training instructions. Following this, participants viewed and rated state emotions during a series of pictures (sexual, disgusting, or neutral). Up-regulation of mood successfully enhanced general arousal in both groups, yet these arousal levels were not paralleled by reductions in disgust. Overall, the findings indicate that emotion regulation training by maximizing positive affect and general arousal could be an effective instrument to facilitate affect-related disturbances in sexual dysfunctions.
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Nipple/Breast stimulation and sexual arousal in young men and women.
Levin, Roy; Meston, Cindy
2006-05-01
The role of nipple/breast stimulation in influencing sexual arousal in men and women during lovemaking has only been the subject of opinion-based comment rather than evidence-based study. No attempt to question people about such sexual behavior has ever been undertaken. The study was designed to ascertain the effects of nipple/breast manipulation in young men and women on their sexual arousal. A short questionnaire about nipple/breast stimulation during sexual activity was administered to 301 (148 men; 153 women) sexually experienced undergraduates (age range 17-29 years, 95% between 18 and 22). Replies to questions in questionnaire. The major findings in regard to the women were that 81.5% reported that stimulation of their nipples/breasts caused or enhanced their sexual arousal, 78.2% agreed that when sexually aroused such manipulation increased their arousal, 59.1% had asked to have their nipples stimulated during lovemaking, and only 7.2% found that the manipulation decreased their arousal. In regard to the men, 51.7% reported that nipple stimulation caused or enhanced their sexual arousal, 39% agreed that when sexually aroused such manipulation increased their arousal, only 17.1% had asked to have their nipples stimulated, and only 7.5% found that such stimulation decreased their arousal. Manipulation of the nipples/breasts causes or enhances sexual arousal in approximately 82% of young women and 52% of young men with only 7-8% reporting that it decreased their arousal.
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Santos-Iglesias, Pablo; Sierra, Juan Carlos; Vallejo-Medina, Pablo
2013-08-01
This study was conducted to test interpersonal, attitudinal, and sexual predictors of sexual assertiveness in a Spanish sample of 1,619 men and 1,755 women aged 18-87 years. Participants completed measures of sexual assertiveness, solitary and dyadic sexual desire, sexual arousal, erectile function, sexual attitudes, and frequency of partner abuse. In men, higher sexual assertiveness was predicted by less non-physical abuse, more positive attitudes toward sexual fantasies and erotophilia, higher dyadic desire, and higher sexual arousal. In women, higher sexual assertiveness was predicted by less non-physical abuse, less solitary sexual desire and higher dyadic sexual desire, arousal, erotophilia, and positive attitudes towards sexual fantasies. Results were discussed in the light of prevention and educational programs that include training in sexual assertiveness skills.
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The Impact of Sexual Arousal on Sexual Risk-Taking and Decision-Making in Men and Women.
Skakoon-Sparling, Shayna; Cramer, Kenneth M; Shuper, Paul A
2016-01-01
Sexual arousal has emerged as an important contextual feature in sexual encounters that can impact safer-sex decision-making. We conducted two experiments that investigated the effects of sexual arousal among male and female participants. Experiment 1 (N = 144) examined the impact of sexual around on sexual health decision-making. Sexually explicit and neutral video clips as well as hypothetical romantic scenarios were used to evaluate the effects of sexual arousal on sexual risk-taking intentions. Men and women who reported higher levels of sexual arousal also displayed greater intentions to participate in risky sexual behavior (e.g., unprotected sex with a new sex partner). Experiment 2 (N = 122) examined the impact of sexual arousal on general risk-taking, using the same videos clips as in Experiment 1 and a modified version of a computerized Blackjack card game. Participants were offered a chance to make either a risky play or a safe play during ambiguous conditions. Increased sexual arousal in Experiment 2 was associated with impulsivity and a greater willingness to make risky plays in the Blackjack game. These findings suggest that, in situations where there are strong sexually visceral cues, both men and women experiencing strong sexual arousal may have lower inhibitions and may experience impaired decision-making. This phenomenon may have an impact during sexual encounters and may contribute to a failure to use appropriate prophylactic protection.
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Physiology of Women's Sexual Function: Basic Knowledge and New Findings
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Salonia, Andrea; Giraldi, Annamaria; Chivers, Meredith L
2010-01-01
Introduction. Data concerning the physiology of female sexual functioning are still obtained from animal studies, but an increasing amount of novel evidence comes from human studies. Aim. To gain knowledge of psychological and biologic physiology of women's sexual functioning, mainly addressing...... and responses is of paramount importance. A biopsychological paradigm was considered when reviewing currently available data, thus considering aspects of: (i) sexual differentiation of the brain, which is critical for sex differentiation in behavior; (ii) central neurobiology of sexual function, highlighting...... arousal in women in both procreation/reproduction and recreation/pleasure. The interaction between physiological and psychological states of women's sexual response, nonspecific sexual response, interoceptive awareness, and flexibility of sexual interests have also been addressed. Conclusion. Further...
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ter Kuile, Moniek M; Both, Stephanie; van Uden, Janneke
2010-03-01
In depressed women, common sexual difficulties include decreased sexual desire, sexual arousal and orgasmic difficulties, reduced sexual satisfaction, and reduced sexual pleasure. Experimental research on the influence of depressed mood on genital and subjective sexual arousal in women is scarce. To investigate the effects of sad mood on genital and subjective sexual arousal in sexually healthy women, using a mood induction procedure. Thirty-two subjects received a sad mood and a happy mood induction, on two different days, using a within subjects design. The mood induction procedure was a combination of the Velten procedure and music. In the Velten procedure, the subject is asked to read sad or happy self-referent sentences and to experience the mood suggested by these sentences. Immediately following mood induction, the subjects were exposed to an erotic film clip. Genital arousal was assessed using vaginal photoplethysmography. Self-report ratings of sad and happy mood, subjective sexual arousal and affective reactions were collected before and after the erotic clip. The sad and happy mood ratings indicated that the mood inductions affected mood as intended. No difference in genital sexual arousal was found between the sad and happy mood conditions. Subjects reported significantly less subjective sexual arousal and positive affect and marginally significant fewer genital sensations and more negative affect in the sad mood condition than in the happy mood condition. The results provide empirical support for the idea that mood can impact on subjective sexual arousal in women.
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Sex differences in patterns of genital sexual arousal: measurement artifacts or true phenomena?
Suschinsky, Kelly D; Lalumière, Martin L; Chivers, Meredith L
2009-08-01
Sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal have been reported recently. Men's genital arousal is typically more category-specific than women's, such that men experience their greatest genital arousal to stimuli depicting their preferred sex partners whereas women experience significant genital arousal to stimuli depicting both their preferred and non-preferred sex partners. In addition, men's genital and subjective sexual arousal patterns are more concordant than women's: The correlation between genital and subjective sexual arousal is much larger in men than in women. These sex differences could be due to low response-specificity in the measurement of genital arousal in women. The most commonly used measure of female sexual arousal, vaginal photoplethysmography, has not been fully validated and may not measure sexual arousal specifically. A total of 20 men and 20 women were presented with various sexual and non-sexual emotionally laden short film clips while their genital and subjective sexual arousal were measured. Results suggest that vaginal photoplethysmography is a measure of sexual arousal exclusively. Women's genital responses were highest during sexual stimuli and absent during all non-sexual stimuli. Sex differences in degree of category-specificity and concordance were replicated: Men's genital responses were more category-specific than women's and men's genital and subjective sexual arousal were more strongly correlated than women's. The results from the current study support the continued use of vaginal photoplethysmography in investigating sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal.
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Physiological arousal in processing recognition information
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Guy Hochman
2010-07-01
Full Text Available The recognition heuristic (RH; Goldstein and Gigerenzer, 2002 suggests that, when applicable, probabilistic inferences are based on a noncompensatory examination of whether an object is recognized or not. The overall findings on the processes that underlie this fast and frugal heuristic are somewhat mixed, and many studies have expressed the need for considering a more compensatory integration of recognition information. Regardless of the mechanism involved, it is clear that recognition has a strong influence on choices, and this finding might be explained by the fact that recognition cues arouse affect and thus receive more attention than cognitive cues. To test this assumption, we investigated whether recognition results in a direct affective signal by measuring physiological arousal (i.e., peripheral arterial tone in the established city-size task. We found that recognition of cities does not directly result in increased physiological arousal. Moreover, the results show that physiological arousal increased with increasing inconsistency between recognition information and additional cue information. These findings support predictions derived by a compensatory Parallel Constraint Satisfaction model rather than predictions of noncompensatory models. Additional results concerning confidence ratings, response times, and choice proportions further demonstrated that recognition information and other cognitive cues are integrated in a compensatory manner.
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Sexual Desire and Arousal Disorders in Women
Laan, Ellen; Both, Stephanie
2011-01-01
According to incentive motivation theory, sexual desire is the result of the interplay between a sensitive sexual response system and stimuli that activate the system. From this notion it follows that sexual desire is not a cause but a consequence of sexual arousal. The effects of hormones, somatic
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Neuroendocrine response to film-induced sexual arousal in men and women.
Exton, N G; Truong, T C; Exton, M S; Wingenfeld, S A; Leygraf, N; Saller, B; Hartmann, U; Schedlowski, M
2000-02-01
The psychoneuroendocrine responses to sexual arousal have not been clearly established in humans. However, we have demonstrated previously that masturbation-induced orgasm stimulates cardiovascular activity and induces increases in catecholamines and prolactin in blood of both males and females. We presently investigated the role of orgasm in producing these effects. Therefore, in this study parallel analysis of prolactin, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol concentrations, together with cardiovascular variables of systolic/diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were undertaken during film-induced sexual arousal in nine healthy adult men and nine healthy adult women. Blood was drawn continuously via an indwelling cannula and connected tubing system passed through a mini-pump. In parallel, the cardiovascular parameters were recorded continuously via a computerised finger-cuff sensor. Subjective sexual arousal increased significantly in both men and women during the erotic film, with sexual arousal eliciting an increase in blood pressure in both males and females, and plasma noradrenaline in females only. In contrast, adrenaline, cortisol and prolactin levels were unaffected by sexual arousal. These data further consolidate the role of sympathetic activation in sexual arousal processes. Furthermore, they demonstrate that increases in plasma prolactin during sexual stimulation are orgasm-dependent, suggesting that prolactin may regulate a negative-feedback sexual-satiation mechanism.
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Disorders in sexual desire and sexual arousal in women, a 2010 state of the art
Both, Stephanie; Laan, Ellen; Schultz, Willibrord Weijmar
2010-01-01
In this contribution, female sexual desire and arousal disorders are viewed from the perspective of incentive motivation and information processing models of sexual response. The effects of hormones, somatic disease, and medication on sexual arousability are discussed, as well as the influence of
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A psychophysiological investigation of sexual arousal in women with lifelong vaginismus.
Cherner, Rebecca A; Reissing, Elke D
2013-05-01
Relatively little is known about the subjective reactions of women with lifelong vaginismus to erotic stimuli and genital arousal has never been investigated. Reports of maladaptive cognitions and fears regarding sexuality and intercourse suggest that anxiety may interfere with sexual arousal in women with vaginismus. To examine the genital and subjective responses to sexually explicit film stimuli of women with lifelong vaginismus compared with women with lifelong dyspareunia and women with no pain. Forty-five women (15 vaginismus, 15 dyspareunia, and 15 no pain) viewed two neutral and two erotic film sets, one depicting sexual activity without vaginal penetration and the other depicting intercourse, over two testing sessions. Vulvar temperature was recorded using an infrared camera. Participants completed a measure of subjective responses after viewing each film. All groups experienced increased vulvar temperature during the erotic films regardless of activity depicted. In response to the erotic films, the vaginismus group reported less mental arousal than the no-pain group and a range of negative subjective responses, including threat and disgust. Overall, participants showed concordance between peak subjective sexual arousal and temperature change from baseline to peak arousal. Despite negative subjective responses, women with vaginismus responded with increased genital sexual arousal to erotic films. The resilience of genital arousal may have resulted from moderate levels of anxiety experienced in the laboratory setting facilitating sexual response regardless of subjective appraisal; however, anxiety experienced in a dyadic context may interfere more substantially. © 2013 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Financial Anxiety, Physiological Arousal, and Planning Intention
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John Grable
2014-12-01
Full Text Available Results from this exploratory clinical study indicate that financial anxiety—holding an unhealthy attitude about one’s financial situation—and physiological arousal—the physical precursor to behavior—play important roles in shaping consumer intention to engage in future financial planning activity. Findings suggest that those who are most likely to engage the services of a financial adviser exhibit low levels of financial anxiety and moderate to high levels of physiological arousal. The least likely to seek the help of a financial adviser are those who exhibit high financial anxiety and low physiological arousal. Results support findings documented in the literature that high anxiety levels often lead to a form of self-imposed helplessness. In order to move those experiencing financial anxiety towards financial solutions, financial advisers ought to take steps to simultaneously reduce financial stressors and stimulate arousal as a way to promote behavioral change and help seeking.
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Interoception and sexual response in women with low sexual desire
Velten, Julia
2017-01-01
Sexual concordance is defined as the association between genital response and self-reported sexual arousal. Though one might predict a strong association between sexual concordance and awareness of other internal physiological sensations (termed interoception), past research on sexually healthy women has not found these different domains to be related. The aim of the present study was to test the association between interoception and sexual concordance in a clinical sample of women with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD). Fifty-two women with SIAD completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), a validated self-report measure of interoception, and completed a heart-beat accuracy test, an objective measure of interoception. They also participated in a laboratory-based assessment of physiological sexual arousal and self-reported sexual arousal while viewing an erotic film. Mental and physiological arousal were correlated at r = 0.27 (range -0.80 to 0.95). There was no significant association between sexual concordance and women’s heartrate awareness. However, five aspects of interoceptive awareness (noticing, emotional awareness, self-regulation, body-listening, and trusting), were predictive of lower, and one aspect (not-distracting) was predictive of higher sexual concordance. We discuss the findings in relation to the role of emotions and arousal states in the interoception-sexual concordance relationship. PMID:29020067
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Interoception and sexual response in women with low sexual desire.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Julia Velten
Full Text Available Sexual concordance is defined as the association between genital response and self-reported sexual arousal. Though one might predict a strong association between sexual concordance and awareness of other internal physiological sensations (termed interoception, past research on sexually healthy women has not found these different domains to be related. The aim of the present study was to test the association between interoception and sexual concordance in a clinical sample of women with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD. Fifty-two women with SIAD completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA, a validated self-report measure of interoception, and completed a heart-beat accuracy test, an objective measure of interoception. They also participated in a laboratory-based assessment of physiological sexual arousal and self-reported sexual arousal while viewing an erotic film. Mental and physiological arousal were correlated at r = 0.27 (range -0.80 to 0.95. There was no significant association between sexual concordance and women's heartrate awareness. However, five aspects of interoceptive awareness (noticing, emotional awareness, self-regulation, body-listening, and trusting, were predictive of lower, and one aspect (not-distracting was predictive of higher sexual concordance. We discuss the findings in relation to the role of emotions and arousal states in the interoception-sexual concordance relationship.
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Sexual touching and difficulties with sexual arousal and orgasm among U.S. older adults.
Galinsky, Adena M
2012-08-01
Little is known about the non-genitally-focused sexual behavior of those experiencing sexual difficulties. The objective of this study was to review the theory supporting a link between sexual touching and difficulties with sexual arousal and orgasm, and to examine associations between these constructs among older adults in the United States. The data were from the 2005-2006 National Social Life Health and Aging Project, which surveyed 3,005 community-dwelling men and women ages 57-85 years. The 1,352 participants who had had sex in the past year reported on their frequency of sexual touching and whether there had been a period of several months or more in the past year when they were unable to climax, had trouble getting or maintaining an erection (men) or had trouble lubricating (women). Women also reported how often they felt sexually aroused during partner sex in the last 12 months. The odds of being unable to climax were greater by 2.4 times (95% CI 1.2-4.8) among men and 2.8 times (95% CI 1.4-5.5) among women who sometimes, rarely or never engaged in sexual touching, compared to those who always engaged in sexual touching, controlling for demographic factors and physical health. These results were attenuated but persisted after controlling for emotional relationship satisfaction and psychological factors. Similar results were obtained for erectile difficulties among men and subjective arousal difficulties among women, but not lubrication difficulties among women. Infrequent sexual touching is associated with arousal and orgasm difficulties among older adults in the United States.
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Performance demand and sexual arousal in women
Laan, E.; Everaerd, W.; van Aanhold, M. T.; Rebel, M.
1993-01-01
Up to now, no experimental studies have inquired into the possible role of performance demand in female sexuality. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of performance demand on sexual arousal in functional women, using explicit instructions. Forty-eight female subjects were
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Genital responsiveness in healthy women with and without sexual arousal disorder
Laan, Ellen; van Driel, Esther M.; van Lunsen, Rik H. W.
2008-01-01
INTRODUCTION: Most pharmacological treatments that are currently being developed for women with sexual arousal disorder are aimed at remedying a vasculogenic deficit. AIM: This study investigated whether pre- and postmenopausal women with sexual arousal disorder are less genitally responsive to
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Lykins, Amy D; Janssen, Erick; Newhouse, Sarah; Heiman, Julia R; Rafaeli, Eshkol
2012-05-01
Despite the importance of sexuality for romantic relationships, there has been little research attention to individual differences and dyadic variables, including couple similarity, and their association with sexual problems and satisfaction. The current study examined the effects of the propensity for sexual inhibition and sexual excitation scales (SIS/SES) and the effects of different mood states on sexuality (Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire [MSQ]), at both the individual and the dyad level, on sexual arousal problems and sexual satisfaction. Similarity in SIS/SES and MSQ was measured in a nonclinical sample of 35 newlywed couples and operationally defined as the within-couple, z-transformed correlations between the two partners' item responses. Sexual arousal problems were assessed using self-report measures (Demographic and Sexual History Questionnaire) and focused on the past 3 months. Sexual satisfaction was assessed using the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction. Regression analyses revealed that greater similarity in the effects of anxiety and stress on sexuality was associated with more reported sexual arousal problems of wives. In contrast, the husbands' sexual arousal problems were related only to their own higher SIS1 scores. Higher SES scores predicted lower sexual satisfaction for both husbands and wives. Wives who reported strong positive mood effects on their sexuality indicated greater sexual satisfaction, while husbands who were more similar to their wives in the effect of positive moods on sexuality indicated greater sexual satisfaction. The findings show that, above and beyond one's own sexual propensities, similarity in various aspects of sexuality predicts sexual problems (more so in women) and sexual satisfaction (in both men and women). © 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Sexual Touching and Difficulties with Sexual Arousal and Orgasm Among U.S. Older Adults
2013-01-01
Little is known about the non-genitally-focused sexual behavior of those experiencing sexual difficulties. The objective of this study was to review the theory supporting a link between sexual touching and difficulties with sexual arousal and orgasm, and to examine associations between these constructs among older adults in the United States. The data were from the 2005–2006 National Social Life Health and Aging Project, which surveyed 3,005 community-dwelling men and women ages 57–85 years. The 1,352 participants who had had sex in the past year reported on their frequency of sexual touching and whether there had been a period of several months or more in the past year when they were unable to climax, had trouble getting or maintaining an erection (men) or had trouble lubricating (women). Women also reported how of ten they felt sexually aroused during partner sex in the last 12 months. The odds of being unable to climax were greater by 2.4 times (95% CI 1.2–4.8) among men and 2.8 times (95% CI 1.4–5.5) among women who sometimes, rarely or never engaged in sexual touching, compared to those who always engaged in sexual touching, controlling for demographic factors and physical health. These results were attenuated but persisted after controlling for emotional relationship satisfaction and psychological factors. Similar results were obtained for erectile difficulties among men and subjective arousal difficulties among women, but not lubrication difficulties among women. Infrequent sexual touching is associated with arousal and orgasm difficulties among older adults in the United States. PMID:22160881
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Sales, Jessica M.; Smearman, Erica; Brody, Gene H.; Milhausen, Robin; Philibert, Robert A.; DiClemente, Ralph J.
2013-01-01
Sexuality-related constructs such as sexual arousal, sexual sensation seeking (SSS) and sexual satisfaction have been related to sexual behaviors that place one at risk for adverse consequences such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV, and unintended pregnancy. The biopsychosocial model posits an array of factors, ranging from social environmental factors, biological, and psychological predispositions that may be associated with these sexuality constructs in adolescent samples. Afr...
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Zollman, Gena; Rellini, Alessandra; Desrocher, Danielle
2013-01-01
Psychopathologies such as posttraumatic stress disorder are often proposed as mediators of the sexual arousal dysfunction experienced by women with a history of childhood maltreatment. However, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms are only part of the difficulties experienced by these women. Other factors to consider include negative affectivity and perceived daily stress. To assess the mediating role of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, negative affectivity, and perceived daily stress, we collected data from 62 women with and without a history of childhood maltreatment (sexual, physical and emotional abuse). A comprehensive assessment of sexual arousal functioning and sexual responses was obtained using self-reported measures and psychophysiological measures of vaginal engorgement and subjective sexual arousal during exposure to sexual visual stimuli. The model assessed the simultaneous mediating effect of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, negative affectivity and perceived daily stress on the relation between childhood maltreatment and sexual variables. Daily stress, showed a significant and stronger mediation effect on sexual arousal functioning as compared to posttraumatic stress disorder and negative affectivity. These findings suggest that daily stress may be an important mechanism to consider when treating sexual arousal functioning in women who have a history of childhood maltreatment.
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Sexual arousal and rhythmic synchronization: A possible effect of vasopressin
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Miani, Alessandro
2016-01-01
Music is ubiquitous. Yet, its biological relevance is still an ongoing debate. Supporting the view that music had an ancestral role in courtship displays, a pilot study presented here provides preliminary evidence on the link between music and sexual selection. The underlying hypothesis is based...... by vasopressin and its genes. Hence, to test this hypothesis, a rhythmic synchronization task was employed here on one male subject during sexual arousal. Results revealed a significant effect of sexual arousal on rhythm synchronization. This is the first report that empirically supports the hypothesis...
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Brief Emotion Regulation Training Facilitates Arousal Control During Sexual Stimuli
van Overveld, Mark; Borg, Charmaine
2015-01-01
Disgust, a negative emotion which evokes strong behavioral avoidance tendencies, has been associated with sexual dysfunction. Recently, it was postulated that healthy sexual functioning requires a balance between excitatory (increased sexual arousal) and inhibitory processes (lowered disgust
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Laan, E.; Everaerd, W.; van der Velde, J.; Geer, J. H.
1995-01-01
Sixty-two women participated in a study designed to explore the association between genital and subjective sexual arousal. Four stimulus conditions were created, designed to evoke differential patterns of genital arousal over time. Subjects were instructed to report sensations in their genitalia
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Mood and sexual arousal in women
Laan, E.; Everaerd, W.; van Berlo, R.; Rijs, L.
1995-01-01
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a positive 'mood for sex' on genital and subjective sexual arousal in functional women, using a musical mood induction procedure. Fifty-one female Ss were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: erotic film preceded by mood induction;
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Feelings of disgust and disgust-induced avoidance weaken following induced sexual arousal in women.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Charmaine Borg
Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Sex and disgust are basic, evolutionary relevant functions that are often construed as paradoxical. In general the stimuli involved in sexual encounters are, at least out of context strongly perceived to hold high disgust qualities. Saliva, sweat, semen and body odours are among the strongest disgust elicitors. This results in the intriguing question of how people succeed in having pleasurable sex at all. One possible explanation could be that sexual engagement temporarily reduces the disgust eliciting properties of particular stimuli or that sexual engagement might weaken the hesitation to actually approach these stimuli. METHODOLOGY: Participants were healthy women (n = 90 randomly allocated to one of three groups: the sexual arousal, the non-sexual positive arousal, or the neutral control group. Film clips were used to elicit the relevant mood state. Participants engaged in 16 behavioural tasks, involving sex related (e.g., lubricate the vibrator and non-sex related (e.g., take a sip of juice with a large insect in the cup stimuli, to measure the impact of sexual arousal on feelings of disgust and actual avoidance behaviour. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The sexual arousal group rated the sex related stimuli as less disgusting compared to the other groups. A similar tendency was evident for the non-sex disgusting stimuli. For both the sex and non-sex related behavioural tasks the sexual arousal group showed less avoidance behaviour (i.e., they conducted the highest percentage of tasks compared to the other groups. SIGNIFICANCE: This study has investigated how sexual arousal interplays with disgust and disgust eliciting properties in women, and has demonstrated that this relationship goes beyond subjective report by affecting the actual approach to disgusting stimuli. Hence, this could explain how we still manage to engage in pleasurable sexual activity. Moreover, these findings suggest that low sexual arousal might be a key feature in the
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Disgust versus Lust: Exploring the Interactions of Disgust and Fear with Sexual Arousal in Women.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Diana S Fleischman
Full Text Available Sexual arousal is a motivational state that moves humans toward situations that inherently pose a risk of disease transmission. Disgust is an emotion that adaptively moves humans away from such situations. Incongruent is the fact that sexual activity is elementary to human fitness yet involves strong disgust elicitors. Using an experimental paradigm, we investigated how these two states interact. Women (final N=76 were assigned to one of four conditions: rate disgust stimuli then watch a pornographic clip; watch a pornographic clip then rate disgust stimuli; rate fear stimuli then watch a pornographic clip; or watch a pornographic clip then rate fear stimuli. Women's genital sexual arousal was measured with vaginal photoplethysmography and their disgust and fear reactions were measured via self-report. We did not find that baseline disgust propensity predicted sexual arousal in women who were exposed to neutral stimuli before erotic content. In the Erotic-before-Disgust condition we did not find that sexual arousal straightforwardly predicted decreased image disgust ratings. However, we did find some evidence that sexual arousal increased self-reported disgust in women with high trait disgust and sexual arousal decreased self-reported disgust in women with low trait disgust. Women who were exposed to disgusting images before erotic content showed significantly less sexual arousal than women in the control condition or women exposed to fear-inducing images before erotic content. In the Disgust-before-Erotic condition the degree of self-reported disgust was negatively correlated with genital sexual arousal. Hence, in the conflict between the ultimate goals of reproduction and disease avoidance, cues of the presence of pathogens significantly reduce the motivation to engage in mating behaviors that, by their nature, entail a risk of pathogen transmission.
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Disgust versus Lust: Exploring the Interactions of Disgust and Fear with Sexual Arousal in Women
Fleischman, Diana S.; Hamilton, Lisa Dawn; Fessler, Daniel M. T.; Meston, Cindy M.
2015-01-01
Sexual arousal is a motivational state that moves humans toward situations that inherently pose a risk of disease transmission. Disgust is an emotion that adaptively moves humans away from such situations. Incongruent is the fact that sexual activity is elementary to human fitness yet involves strong disgust elicitors. Using an experimental paradigm, we investigated how these two states interact. Women (final N=76) were assigned to one of four conditions: rate disgust stimuli then watch a pornographic clip; watch a pornographic clip then rate disgust stimuli; rate fear stimuli then watch a pornographic clip; or watch a pornographic clip then rate fear stimuli. Women’s genital sexual arousal was measured with vaginal photoplethysmography and their disgust and fear reactions were measured via self-report. We did not find that baseline disgust propensity predicted sexual arousal in women who were exposed to neutral stimuli before erotic content. In the Erotic-before-Disgust condition we did not find that sexual arousal straightforwardly predicted decreased image disgust ratings. However, we did find some evidence that sexual arousal increased self-reported disgust in women with high trait disgust and sexual arousal decreased self-reported disgust in women with low trait disgust. Women who were exposed to disgusting images before erotic content showed significantly less sexual arousal than women in the control condition or women exposed to fear-inducing images before erotic content. In the Disgust-before-Erotic condition the degree of self-reported disgust was negatively correlated with genital sexual arousal. Hence, in the conflict between the ultimate goals of reproduction and disease avoidance, cues of the presence of pathogens significantly reduce the motivation to engage in mating behaviors that, by their nature, entail a risk of pathogen transmission. PMID:26106894
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Disgust versus Lust: Exploring the Interactions of Disgust and Fear with Sexual Arousal in Women.
Fleischman, Diana S; Hamilton, Lisa Dawn; Fessler, Daniel M T; Meston, Cindy M
2015-01-01
Sexual arousal is a motivational state that moves humans toward situations that inherently pose a risk of disease transmission. Disgust is an emotion that adaptively moves humans away from such situations. Incongruent is the fact that sexual activity is elementary to human fitness yet involves strong disgust elicitors. Using an experimental paradigm, we investigated how these two states interact. Women (final N=76) were assigned to one of four conditions: rate disgust stimuli then watch a pornographic clip; watch a pornographic clip then rate disgust stimuli; rate fear stimuli then watch a pornographic clip; or watch a pornographic clip then rate fear stimuli. Women's genital sexual arousal was measured with vaginal photoplethysmography and their disgust and fear reactions were measured via self-report. We did not find that baseline disgust propensity predicted sexual arousal in women who were exposed to neutral stimuli before erotic content. In the Erotic-before-Disgust condition we did not find that sexual arousal straightforwardly predicted decreased image disgust ratings. However, we did find some evidence that sexual arousal increased self-reported disgust in women with high trait disgust and sexual arousal decreased self-reported disgust in women with low trait disgust. Women who were exposed to disgusting images before erotic content showed significantly less sexual arousal than women in the control condition or women exposed to fear-inducing images before erotic content. In the Disgust-before-Erotic condition the degree of self-reported disgust was negatively correlated with genital sexual arousal. Hence, in the conflict between the ultimate goals of reproduction and disease avoidance, cues of the presence of pathogens significantly reduce the motivation to engage in mating behaviors that, by their nature, entail a risk of pathogen transmission.
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Optimizing assessment of sexual arousal in postmenopausal women using erotic film clips.
Ramos Alarcon, Lauren G; Dai, Jing; Collins, Karen; Perez, Mindy; Woodard, Terri; Diamond, Michael P
2017-10-01
This study sought to assess sexual arousal in a subgroup of women by identifying erotic film clips that would be most mentally appealing and physically arousing to postmenopausal women. By measuring levels of mental appeal and self-reported physical arousal using a bidirectional scale, we aimed to elucidate the clips that would best be utilized for sexual health research in the postmenopausal or over 50-year-old subpopulation. Our results showed that postmenopausal women did not rate clips with older versus younger actors differently (p>0.05). The mean mental and mean physical scores were significantly correlated for both premenopausal subject ratings (r=0.69, perotic film clips; this knowledge is relevant for design of future sexual function research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Eun, Sung Jong; Kong, Gwang Woo; Kim, Hyung Joong; Seo, Jeong Jin; Kang, Heoung Keun; Cho, Ki Hyun; Yoon, Ka Hyun; Kim, Kyung Yo
2004-01-01
To identify the brain centers associated with visually evoked sexual arousal in the human brain, and to investigate the neural mechanism for sexual arousal using functional MRI (fMRI). A total of 20 sexually potent volunteers consisting of 10 males (mean age: 24) and 10 females (mean age: 23) underwent fMRI on a 1.5T MR scanner (GE Signa Horizon). The fMRI data were obtained from 7 slices (10 mm slice thickness) parallel to the AC-PC (anterior commissure and posterior commissure) line, giving a total of 511 MR images. The sexual stimulation consisted of a 1-minute rest with black screen, followed by a 4-minute stimulation by an erotic video film, and concluded with a 2-minute rest. The brain activation maps and their quantification were analyzed by the statistical parametric mapping (SPM 99) program. The brain activation regions associated with visual sexual arousal in the limbic system are the posterior cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, hypothalamus, medial cingulate gyrus, thalamus, amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, hippocampus, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus and putamen. Especially, the parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, thalamus and hypothalamus were highly activated in comparison with other areas. The overall activities of the limbic lobe, diencephalon, and basal ganglia were 11.8%, 10.5%, and 3.4%, respectively. In the correlation test between brain activity and sexual arousal, the hypothalamus and thalamus showed positive correlation, but the other brain areas showed no correlation. The fMRI is useful to quantitatively evaluate the cerebral activation associated with visually evoked, sexual arousal in the human brain. This result may be helpful by providing clinically valuable information on sexual disorder in humans as well as by increasing the understanding of the neuroanatomical correlates of sexual arousal
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Eun, Sung Jong; Kong, Gwang Woo; Kim, Hyung Joong; Seo, Jeong Jin; Kang, Heoung Keun; Cho, Ki Hyun; Yoon, Ka Hyun [School of Medicine, Chonnam National Univ., Kwangju (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kyung Yo [Wonkwang Univ., Iksan (Korea, Republic of)
2004-08-01
To identify the brain centers associated with visually evoked sexual arousal in the human brain, and to investigate the neural mechanism for sexual arousal using functional MRI (fMRI). A total of 20 sexually potent volunteers consisting of 10 males (mean age: 24) and 10 females (mean age: 23) underwent fMRI on a 1.5T MR scanner (GE Signa Horizon). The fMRI data were obtained from 7 slices (10 mm slice thickness) parallel to the AC-PC (anterior commissure and posterior commissure) line, giving a total of 511 MR images. The sexual stimulation consisted of a 1-minute rest with black screen, followed by a 4-minute stimulation by an erotic video film, and concluded with a 2-minute rest. The brain activation maps and their quantification were analyzed by the statistical parametric mapping (SPM 99) program. The brain activation regions associated with visual sexual arousal in the limbic system are the posterior cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, hypothalamus, medial cingulate gyrus, thalamus, amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, hippocampus, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus and putamen. Especially, the parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, thalamus and hypothalamus were highly activated in comparison with other areas. The overall activities of the limbic lobe, diencephalon, and basal ganglia were 11.8%, 10.5%, and 3.4%, respectively. In the correlation test between brain activity and sexual arousal, the hypothalamus and thalamus showed positive correlation, but the other brain areas showed no correlation. The fMRI is useful to quantitatively evaluate the cerebral activation associated with visually evoked, sexual arousal in the human brain. This result may be helpful by providing clinically valuable information on sexual disorder in humans as well as by increasing the understanding of the neuroanatomical correlates of sexual arousal.
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Synchrony and Physiological Arousal Increase Cohesion and Cooperation in Large Naturalistic Groups.
Jackson, Joshua Conrad; Jong, Jonathan; Bilkey, David; Whitehouse, Harvey; Zollmann, Stefanie; McNaughton, Craig; Halberstadt, Jamin
2018-01-09
Separate research streams have identified synchrony and arousal as two factors that might contribute to the effects of human rituals on social cohesion and cooperation. But no research has manipulated these variables in the field to investigate their causal - and potentially interactive - effects on prosocial behaviour. Across four experimental sessions involving large samples of strangers, we manipulated the synchronous and physiologically arousing affordances of a group marching task within a sports stadium. We observed participants' subsequent movement, grouping, and cooperation via a camera hidden in the stadium's roof. Synchrony and arousal both showed main effects, predicting larger groups, tighter clustering, and more cooperative behaviour in a free-rider dilemma. Synchrony and arousal also interacted on measures of clustering and cooperation such that synchrony only encouraged closer clustering-and encouraged greater cooperation-when paired with physiological arousal. The research helps us understand why synchrony and arousal often co-occur in rituals around the world. It also represents the first use of real-time spatial tracking as a precise and naturalistic method of simulating collective rituals.
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Barratt Impulsivity and Neural Regulation of Physiological Arousal.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sheng Zhang
Full Text Available Theories of personality have posited an increased arousal response to external stimulation in impulsive individuals. However, there is a dearth of studies addressing the neural basis of this association.We recorded skin conductance in 26 individuals who were assessed with Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11 and performed a stop signal task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Imaging data were processed and modeled with Statistical Parametric Mapping. We used linear regressions to examine correlations between impulsivity and skin conductance response (SCR to salient events, identify the neural substrates of arousal regulation, and examine the relationship between the regulatory mechanism and impulsivity.Across subjects, higher impulsivity is associated with greater SCR to stop trials. Activity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC negatively correlated to and Granger caused skin conductance time course. Furthermore, higher impulsivity is associated with a lesser strength of Granger causality of vmPFC activity on skin conductance, consistent with diminished control of physiological arousal to external stimulation. When men (n = 14 and women (n = 12 were examined separately, however, there was evidence suggesting association between impulsivity and vmPFC regulation of arousal only in women.Together, these findings confirmed the link between Barratt impulsivity and heightened arousal to salient stimuli in both genders and suggested the neural bases of altered regulation of arousal in impulsive women. More research is needed to explore the neural processes of arousal regulation in impulsive individuals and in clinical conditions that implicate poor impulse control.
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Barratt Impulsivity and Neural Regulation of Physiological Arousal.
Zhang, Sheng; Hu, Sien; Hu, Jianping; Wu, Po-Lun; Chao, Herta H; Li, Chiang-shan R
2015-01-01
Theories of personality have posited an increased arousal response to external stimulation in impulsive individuals. However, there is a dearth of studies addressing the neural basis of this association. We recorded skin conductance in 26 individuals who were assessed with Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11) and performed a stop signal task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Imaging data were processed and modeled with Statistical Parametric Mapping. We used linear regressions to examine correlations between impulsivity and skin conductance response (SCR) to salient events, identify the neural substrates of arousal regulation, and examine the relationship between the regulatory mechanism and impulsivity. Across subjects, higher impulsivity is associated with greater SCR to stop trials. Activity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) negatively correlated to and Granger caused skin conductance time course. Furthermore, higher impulsivity is associated with a lesser strength of Granger causality of vmPFC activity on skin conductance, consistent with diminished control of physiological arousal to external stimulation. When men (n = 14) and women (n = 12) were examined separately, however, there was evidence suggesting association between impulsivity and vmPFC regulation of arousal only in women. Together, these findings confirmed the link between Barratt impulsivity and heightened arousal to salient stimuli in both genders and suggested the neural bases of altered regulation of arousal in impulsive women. More research is needed to explore the neural processes of arousal regulation in impulsive individuals and in clinical conditions that implicate poor impulse control.
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van der Made, F.; Bloemers, J.; van Ham, D.; El Yassem, W.; Kleiverda, G.; Everaerd, W.; Olivier, B.; Tuiten, A.
2009-01-01
INTRODUCTION: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) may be associated with reduced central sensitivity for sexual cues. A single dose of testosterone might induce an increase in sensitivity for sexual stimuli, which in turn allows a PDE5 inhibitor to be effective in boosting the physiological sexual
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Stimuli eliciting sexual arousal in males who offend adult women: an experimental study.
Kolárský, A; Madlafousek, J; Novotná, V
1978-03-01
The sexually arousing effects of short film scenes showing a naked actress's seductive behavior were phalloplethysmographically measured in 14 sexual deviates. These were males who had offended adult women, predominantly exhibitionists. Controls were 14 normal men. Deviates responded positively to the scenes and differentiated strong and weak seduction scenes similarly to normals. Consequently, the question arises of why deviates avoid their victim's erotic cooperation and why they do not offend their regular sexual partners. Post hoc analysis of five scenes which elicited a strikingly higher response in deviates than in normals suggested that these scenes contained reduced seductive behavior but unrestrained presentation of the genitals. This finding further encourages the laboratory study of stimulus conditions for abnormal sexual arousal which occurs during the sexual offense.
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Grundmann, Dorit; Krupp, Jurian; Scherner, Gerold; Amelung, Till; Beier, Klaus M
2016-07-01
In forensic research, there is a controversial discussion concerning the changeability or stability of pedophilia. Seto (2012) conceptualized pedophilia as a sexual age orientation characterized by an early onset, correlations with sexual and romantic behavior, and stability over time. However, empirical data are sparse and are mostly based on samples of detected offenders. The present study examined self-reported arousal to sexual fantasies involving children in a clinical sample of pedo-/hebephiles. In Study 1, retrospective self-reports on the age of onset and duration of sexual interest in minors were examined. In Study 2, the stability and variability of self-reported arousal to sexual fantasies involving children were evaluated prospectively. Non-prosecuted self-identifying pedo-/hebephilic men seeking professional help were recruited within the Berlin Prevention Project Dunkelfeld. Between 2005 and 2013, 494 participants completed the intake assessment. Self-reported data were collected via questionnaire focusing on sexual arousal to fantasies during masturbation involving prepubescent and/or early pubescent minors. Subsequent assessments of sexual arousal were obtained for 121 of the participants. The average time between the first and last assessment was approximately 29 months. Spearman's correlation coefficients examined the between-group rank-order and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests examined the within-individual mean-level stability. The majority of subjects reported an early onset of their pedo-/hebephilic sexual arousal. The rank-order stability was medium to high. Over the investigated period, the majority of subjects showed no or only minimal decrease or increase of self-reported sexual arousal. These results suggested that sexual arousal to fantasies involving prepubescent and/or early pubescent children is stable. Furthermore, the results support the conceptualization of pedo-/hebephilia as a sexual age orientation in men.
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The role of incentive learning and cognitive regulation in sexual arousal
Brom, Mirte
2016-01-01
Insight in the underlying mechanisms of sexual motivation is essential to understand disorders in sexual desire and such understanding may be helpful in the development of new and effective psychological and pharmacological interventions, since empirically validated treatments are lacking for female sexual interest/arousal disorder as well as hypersexuality and related disorders. Because much sexual behaviour is thought to be acquired through learning, and given the specific hypothesis that c...
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Hendrick, C; Giesen, M; Borden, R
1975-06-01
Two experiments tested the hypothesis that increases in false physiological feedback of fear arousal will enhance persuasion and that reduction in the arousal feedback is unnecessary for increased persuasion to occur. Prior research has usually found a positive relation between level of arousal and persuasion, but support for the drive reduction hypothesis is tenuous. However, Harris and Jellison (1971) claimed support for such a hypothesis. They manipulated subjects' fear arousal cognitively via false physiological feedback while the subjects listened to a persuasive communication. The present experiments used a similar procedure in an attempt to test an "arousal only" against an "arousal reduction" hypothesis. Subjects listened to a persuasive speech while receiving false feedback via a meter concerning their fear arousal. In Experiment I half of the subjects received high arousal and half received moderate arousal information. Within each of these conditions half of the subjects had their arousal reduced, and the other half did not. In Experiment II subjects received either low arousal, high arousal, or high then low arousal feedback while listening. The results of the two studies generally provided support for the "arousal only" hypothesis. An interpretation in terms of Bem's attribution theory was tentatively suggested.
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Scott, Christina L; Cortez, Angelberto
2011-01-01
Research on sexual arousal and erotica has focused primarily on men and women's responses to erotic films and stories designed for a sex-specific audience. To reduce the confounds of relying on separate materials when evaluating sex differences in arousal, the present study designed suggestive and explicit erotic stories that were rated as being equally appealing to men and women. Participants were 212 undergraduate students who completed self-report measures of sexual self-esteem, sexual desire, and pre- and posttest measures of arousal. As hypothesized, women in the suggestive and explicit conditions reported a significant increase in sexual arousal; however, only men who read the explicit story demonstrated significant elevations in arousal. The creation of "equally appealing" erotic stories has challenged the existing research paradigm and has initiated the investigation of sexual arousal from a set of common materials designed for both sexes. The benefits of creating a series of equally appealing erotic materials extends beyond empirical research and may ultimately facilitate greater openness and communication between heterosexual couples.
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Laier, Christian; Pawlikowski, Mirko; Pekal, Jaro; Schulte, Frank P; Brand, Matthias
2013-06-01
Background and aims Cybersex addiction is discussed controversially, while empirical evidence is widely missing. With respect to its mechanisms of development and maintenance Brand et al. (2011) assume that reinforcement due to cybersex should lead to the development of cue-reactivity and craving explaining recurrent cybersex use in the face of growing but neglected negative consequences. To support this hypothesis, two experimental studies were conducted. Methods In a cue-reactivity paradigm 100 pornographic cues were presented to participants and indicators of sexual arousal and craving were assessed. The first study aimed at identifying predictors of cybersex addiction in a freely recruited sample of 171 heterosexual males. The aim of the second study was to verify the findings of the first study by comparing healthy (n = 25) and problematic (n = 25) cybersex users. Results The results show that indicators of sexual arousal and craving to Internet pornographic cues predicted tendencies towards cybersex addiction in the first study. Moreover, it was shown that problematic cybersex users report greater sexual arousal and craving reactions resulting from pornographic cue presentation. In both studies, the number and subjective quality of real-life sexual contacts were not associated to cybersex addiction. Discussion The results support the gratification hypothesis, which assumes reinforcement, learning mechanisms, and craving to be relevant processes in the development and maintenance of cybersex addiction. Poor or unsatisfying sexual real-life contacts cannot sufficiently explain cybersex addiction. Conclusions Positive reinforcement in terms of gratification plays a major role in cybersex addiction.
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Hald, Gert Martin; Malamuth, Neil N
2015-01-01
Using a randomly selected community sample of 200 Danish young adult men and women in a randomized experimental design, the study investigated the effects of a personality trait (agreeableness), past pornography consumption, and experimental exposure to non-violent pornography on attitudes supporting violence against women (ASV). We found that lower levels of agreeableness and higher levels of past pornography consumption significantly predicted ASV. In addition, experimental exposure to pornography increased ASV but only among men low in agreeableness. This relationship was found to be significantly mediated by sexual arousal with sexual arousal referring to the subjective assessment of feeling sexually excited, ready for sexual activities, and/or bodily sensations associated with being sexually aroused. In underscoring the importance of individual differences, the results supported the hierarchical confluence model of sexual aggression and the media literature on affective engagement and priming effects.
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Cognitive Factors in Sexual Arousal: The Role of Distraction
Geer, James H.; Fuhr, Robert
1976-01-01
Four groups of male undergraduates were instructed to perform complex cognitive operations when randomly presented single digits of a dichotic listening paradigm. An erotic tape recording was played into the nonattended ear. Sexual arousal varied directly as a function of the complexity of the distracting cognitive operations. (Author)
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Heart Rate Variability in Male Sexual Arousal and Erectile Dysfunction
2007-01-22
research and practice to assess cardiac autonomic tone with patients presenting with ED symptoms. However, HRV patterns during sexual arousal and activity... masturbation or 18 other sexual activities, was associated with greater levels of HRV among cohabitating individuals [F(1,38) = 8.4, p < 0.01...respectively. The key issue for clinical practice is whether the ANS disturbances predicted in Hypotheses 2 limit tumescence or whether tumescence
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Firestone, P; Bradford, J M; Greenberg, D M; Serran, G A
2000-01-01
The relationship between deviant sexual arousal, as measured by auditory phallometric stimuli, and psychopathy, as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, was examined in 156 incest offenders, 260 extrafamilial child molesters, and 123 rapists. Subjects in each group had never been convicted of another type of sexual offense. Replicating previous research, rapists were more psychopathic than incest offenders and child molesters. Deviant sexual arousal to auditory stimuli was evident only on the Pedophile Index for child molesters. When the relationship between psychopathy and deviant sexual arousal was evaluated in the three groups combined, several significant correlations emerged. However, a finer analysis of these correlations revealed that child molesters evidenced a significant correlation between psychopathy and the Rape Index and psychopathy and the Pedophile Index. There were no such significant findings in the incest offender or rapist groups. Implications of the results are discussed.
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The effect of a dopamine antagonist on conditioning of sexual arousal in women.
Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Trimbos, Baptist; Both, Stephanie
2016-04-01
Dopamine (DA) plays a key role in reward-seeking behaviours. Accumulating evidence from animal and human studies suggests that human sexual reward learning may also depend on DA transmission. However, research on the role of DA in human sexual reward learning is completely lacking. To investigate whether DA antagonism attenuates classical conditioning of sexual response in humans. Healthy women were randomly allocated to one of two treatment conditions: haloperidol (n = 29) or placebo (n = 29). A differential conditioning paradigm was applied with genital vibrostimulation as unconditional stimulus (US) and neutral pictures as conditional stimuli (CSs). Genital arousal was assessed, and ratings of affective value and subjective sexual arousal were obtained. Haloperidol administration affected unconditional genital responding. However, no significant effects of medication were found for conditioned responding. No firm conclusions can be drawn about whether female sexual reward learning implicates DA transmission since the results do not lend themselves to unambiguous interpretation.
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Appraisal and control of sexual and non-sexual intrusive thoughts in university students.
Clark, D A; Purdon, C; Byers, E S
2000-05-01
This study examined differences in the appraisal and thought control strategies associated with the perceived control of unwanted sexual and non-sexual intrusive thoughts. Eleven appraisal dimensions, subjective physiological arousal and 10 thought control strategies were measured in 171 university students who were administered the Revised Obsessive Intrusions Inventory-Sex Version, a self-report measure of unwanted intrusive thoughts. Thought-action fusion (TAF) likelihood was a significant unique predictor of the perceived controllability of respondents' most upsetting sexual and non-sexual intrusive thought. Moreover greater subjective physiological arousal was a significant predictor of reduced control over sexual intrusions, whereas worry that one might act on an intrusive thought and greater effort to control the intrusion were significant unique predictors of the control of non-sexual intrusive thoughts. Various thought control strategies were more often used in response to non-sexual than sexual cognitions. The results are discussed in terms of the differential role of various appraisal processes in the control of unwanted sexual and non-sexual thoughts.
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Visuospatial Working Memory Capacity Predicts Physiological Arousal in a Narrative Task.
Smithson, Lisa; Nicoladis, Elena
2016-06-01
Physiological arousal that occurs during narrative production is thought to reflect emotional processing and cognitive effort (Bar-Haim et al. in Dev Psychobiol 44:238-249, 2004). The purpose of this study was to determine whether individual differences in visuospatial working memory and/or verbal working memory capacity predict physiological arousal in a narrative task. Visuospatial working memory was a significant predictor of skin conductance level (SCL); verbal working memory was not. When visuospatial working memory interference was imposed, visuospatial working memory was no longer a significant predictor of SCL. Visuospatial interference also resulted in a significant reduction in SCL. Furthermore, listener ratings of narrative quality were contingent upon the visuospatial working memory resources of the narrator. Potential implications for educators and clinical practitioners are discussed.
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Male bisexual arousal: a matter of curiosity?
Rieger, Gerulf; Rosenthal, Allen M; Cash, Brian M; Linsenmeier, Joan A W; Bailey, J Michael; Savin-Williams, Ritch C
2013-12-01
Conflicting evidence exists regarding whether bisexual-identified men are sexually aroused to both men and women. We hypothesized that a distinct characteristic, level of curiosity about sexually diverse acts, distinguishes bisexual-identified men with and without bisexual arousal. Study 1 assessed men's (n=277) sexual arousal via pupil dilation to male and female sexual stimuli. Bisexual men were, on average, higher in their sexual curiosity than other men. Despite this general difference, only bisexual-identified men with elevated sexual curiosity showed bisexual arousal. Those lower in curiosity had responses resembling those of homosexual men. Study 2 assessed men's (n=72) sexual arousal via genital responses and replicated findings of Study 1. Study 3 provided information on the validity on our measure of sexual curiosity by relating it to general curiosity and sexual sensation seeking (n=83). Based on their sexual arousal and personality, at least two groups of men identify as bisexual. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Handy, Ariel B; Stanton, Amelia M; Meston, Cindy M
2018-04-01
Subjective sexual arousal (SSA) is positive, cognitive engagement in sexual activity. SSA is considered an important aspect of the sexual experience, as it has been found to facilitate sexual activity and, in situations of chronically low or absent arousal, potentially cause distress. Despite the clinical implications of SSA, a thorough review of how to manipulate SSA has yet to be conducted. To review the state of knowledge about SSA in women, including its definition, measurement, and the outcomes of studies attempting to manipulate SSA within a laboratory setting. A comprehensive search of the electronic databases of PubMed and PsycINFO was conducted. The generated list of articles was reviewed and duplicates were removed. Individual articles were assessed for inclusion and, when appropriate, relevant content was extracted. The potential effects of various manipulations of SSA in a laboratory setting was the main outcome. 44 studies were included in this review. Manipulations were grouped into 3 primary categories: pharmacological (n = 16), cognitive (n = 22), and those based on changes to the autonomic nervous system (n = 6). Results suggest that cognitive manipulation is the most effective method of increasing SSA. Altering the relative balance of the 2 branches of the autonomic nervous system (the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system) also appears to be a promising avenue for increasing SSA. This review supports the use of cognitive manipulation for increasing women's SSA in a laboratory setting. Avenues for future research and recommendations for clinicians are discussed. Handy AB, Stanton AM, Meston CM. Understanding Women's Subjective Sexual Arousal Within the Laboratory: Definition, Measurement, and Manipulation. Sex Med Rev 2018;6:201-216. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Kim, Gwang-Won; Jeong, Gwang-Woo
2017-02-20
The aging process and menopausal transition are important factors in sexual dysfunction of menopausal women. No neuroimaging study has assessed the age- and menopause-related changes on brain activation areas associated with sexual arousal in menopausal women. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the time course of regional brain activity associated with sexual arousal evoked by visual stimulation in premenopausal and menopausal women, and further to assess the effect of menopause on the brain areas associated with sexual arousal in menopausal women using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Thirty volunteers consisting of 15 premenopausal and 15 menopausal women underwent the fMRI. For the activation condition, volunteers viewed sexually arousing visual stimulation. The brain areas with significantly higher activation in premenopausal women compared with menopausal women included the thalamus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) using analysis of covariance adjusting for age (psexual arousal. These findings might help elucidate the neural mechanisms associated with sexual dysfunction in menopausal women. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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The relation between young children's physiological arousal and their motivation to help others.
Hepach, Robert; Vaish, Amrisha; Müller, Katharina; Tomasello, Michael
2017-10-10
Children are motivated to help others from an early age. However, little is known about the internal biological mechanisms underlying their motivation to help. Here, we compiled data from five separate studies in which children, ranging in age from 18 months to 5.5 years, witnessed an adult needing help. In all studies, we assessed both (1) children's internal physiological arousal via changes in their pupil dilation, and (2) the latency and likelihood of them providing help. The results showed that the greater the baseline-corrected change in children's internal arousal in response to witnessing the need situation, the faster and more likely children were to help the adult. This was not the case for the baseline measure of children's tonic arousal state. Together, these results suggest that children's propensity to help is systematically related to their physiological arousal after they witness others needing help. This sheds new light on the biological mechanisms underlying not only young children's social perception but also their prosocial motivation more generally. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Emotional intelligence buffers the effect of physiological arousal on dishonesty
Pittarello, Andrea; Conte, Beatrice; Caserotti, Marta; Scrimin, Sara; Rubaltelli, Enrico
We studied the emotional processes that allow people to balance two competing desires: benefitting from dishonesty and keeping a positive self-image. We recorded physiological arousal (skin conductance and heart rate) during a computer card game in which participants could cheat and fail to report a
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Animal Models for the Study of Female Sexual Dysfunction
Marson, Lesley; Giamberardino, Maria Adele; Costantini, Raffaele; Czakanski, Peter; Wesselmann, Ursula
2017-01-01
Introduction Significant progress has been made in elucidating the physiological and pharmacological mechanisms of female sexual function through preclinical animal research. The continued development of animal models is vital for the understanding and treatment of the many diverse disorders that occur in women. Aim To provide an updated review of the experimental models evaluating female sexual function that may be useful for clinical translation. Methods Review of English written, peer-reviewed literature, primarily from 2000 to 2012, that described studies on female sexual behavior related to motivation, arousal, physiological monitoring of genital function and urogenital pain. Main Outcomes Measures Analysis of supporting evidence for the suitability of the animal model to provide measurable indices related to desire, arousal, reward, orgasm, and pelvic pain. Results The development of female animal models has provided important insights in the peripheral and central processes regulating sexual function. Behavioral models of sexual desire, motivation, and reward are well developed. Central arousal and orgasmic responses are less well understood, compared with the physiological changes associated with genital arousal. Models of nociception are useful for replicating symptoms and identifying the neurobiological pathways involved. While in some cases translation to women correlates with the findings in animals, the requirement of circulating hormones for sexual receptivity in rodents and the multifactorial nature of women’s sexual function requires better designed studies and careful analysis. The current models have studied sexual dysfunction or pelvic pain in isolation; combining these aspects would help to elucidate interactions of the pathophysiology of pain and sexual dysfunction. Conclusions Basic research in animals has been vital for understanding the anatomy, neurobiology, and physiological mechanisms underlying sexual function and urogenital pain
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Ben Zion, I Z; Tessler, R; Cohen, L; Lerer, E; Raz, Y; Bachner-Melman, R; Gritsenko, I; Nemanov, L; Zohar, A H; Belmaker, R H; Benjamin, J; Ebstein, R P
2006-08-01
Although there is some evidence from twin studies that individual differences in sexual behavior are heritable, little is known about the specific molecular genetic design of human sexuality. Recently, a specific dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) agonist was shown in rats to induce penile erection through a central mechanism. These findings prompted us to examine possible association between the well-characterized DRD4 gene and core phenotypes of human sexual behavior that included desire, arousal and function in a group of 148 nonclinical university students. We observed association between the exon 3 repeat region, and the C-521T and C-616G promoter region SNPs, with scores on scales that measure human sexual behavior. The single most common DRD4 5-locus haplotype (19%) was significantly associated with Desire, Function and Arousal scores. The current results are consistent with animal studies that show a role for dopamine and specifically the DRD4 receptor in sexual behavior and suggest that one pathway by which individual variation in human desire, arousal and function are mediated is based on allelic variants coding for differences in DRD4 receptor gene expression and protein concentrations in key brain areas.
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Basson, Rosemary
2015-01-01
The human sexual response to sexually arousing stimuli is a motivational incentive-based cycle comprising subjective experience and physiologic changes. Clinical and empirical data support a circular model of overlapping phases of variable order. Brain imaging data of sexual arousal identify areas of cerebral activation and inhibition reflecting a complex network of cognitive, motivational, emotional, and autonomic components. Psychologic and biologic factors influence the brain's appraisal and processing of sexual stimuli to allow or disallow subsequent arousal. The sexual and non-sexual outcomes influence motivation to future sexual intimacy. Variability is marked both between individuals and within a person's sexual life, influenced by multiple factors, including stage of life cycle, mental health, and relationship happiness. Neurologic disease can interrupt the cycle at many points: by limiting motivation, reducing ability to attend to and feel sexual stimuli, and accomplishing the movements needed to stimulate and experience intercourse. Impairments to genital congestion, penile erection, and orgasm may also occur. Disease-associated changes to the interpersonal relationship and self-image plus frequently comorbid depression will tend to lessen motivation and temper the brain's appraisal of sexual stimuli, so precluding arousal. Therapy begins by explaining the sexual response cycle, clarifying the points of interruption in the patient's own cycle so as to guide treatment. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Physiologic Arousal to Social Stress in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study
Levine, Todd P.; Sheinkopf, Stephen J.; Pescosolido, Matthew; Rodino, Alison; Elia, Gregory; Lester, Barry
2012-01-01
Little is known about arousal to socially stressful situations in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This preliminary study investigates physiologic arousal in children with high functioning autism (HFA, n = 19) compared to a comparison group (n = 11) before, during, and after the Trier Social Stress Test. The HFA group was more likely to…
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Magnetic resonance imaging of male and female genitals during coitus and female sexual arousal
Schultz, WW; van Andel, P; Sabelis, [No Value; Mooyaart, E
1999-01-01
Objective To find out whether taking images of the male and female genitals during coitus is feasible and to find out whether former and current ideas about the anatomy during sexual intercourse and during female sexual arousal are based on assumptions or on facts. Design Observational study Setting
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Anil Kumar Mysore Nagaraj
2009-05-01
Full Text Available Sexual activity is a multifaceted activity, involving complex interactions between the nervous system, the endocrine system, the vascular system and a variety of structures that are instrumental in sexual excitement, intercourse and satisfaction. Sexual function has three components i.e., desire, arousal and orgasm. Many sexual dysfunctions can be categorized according to the phase of sexual response that is affected. In actual clinical practice however, sexual desire, arousal and orgasmic difficulties more often than not coexist, suggesting an integration of phases. Sexual dysfunction can result from a wide variety of psychological and physiological causes including derangements in the levels of sex hormones and neurotrensmitters. This review deals with the biology of different phases of sexual function as well as implications of hormones and neurotransmitters in sexual dysfunction
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Sarin, Sabina; Amsel, Rhonda; Binik, Yitzchak M
2014-07-01
Despite much theorizing about the interchangeability of desire and arousal, research has yet to identify whether men with desire vs. arousal disorders can be differentiated based on their psychophysiological patterns of arousal. Additionally, little research has examined the relationship between subjective (SA) and genital arousal (GA) in sexually dysfunctional men. To compare patterns of SA and GA in a community sample of men meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), erectile dysfunction (ED), both HSDD and ED (ED/HSDD), and healthy controls. Seventy-one men (19 controls, 13 HSDD, 19 ED, 20 ED/HSDD) completed self-report measures and watched two 15-minute film clips (neutral and erotic), while GA and SA were measured both continuously and discretely. Groups were compared on genital temperature (as an indicator of GA), SA, and psychosocial variables (i.e., body image, emotion regulation, sexual attitudes, sexual inhibition/excitation, mood, and trauma). Genital temperature increased for all groups during the erotic condition, yet men with ED and ED/HSDD showed less GA than men without erectile difficulties. All groups increased in SA during the erotic condition, yet ED/HSDD men reported less SA than controls or ED men. SA and GA were highly correlated for controls, and less strongly correlated for clinical groups; men with ED showed low agreement between SA and GA. Groups also differed on body image, sexual inhibition/excitation, sexual attitudes and alexithymia. Low desire vs. arousal sufferers have unique patterns of response, with those with both difficulties showing greatest impairment. Results have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of these disorders. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Direct manipulation of physiological arousal in induced anxiety therapy - biofeedback approach.
Sappington, A A
1977-10-01
This study investigated the role of physiological arousal in the affect induction phase of Induced Anxiety therapy by using biofeedback to facilitate arousal. Twenty-one college students who were suffering from free-floating anxiety were assigned randomly to one of three groups: (1) a no-treatment control group simply completed the measures before and after therapy; (2) a conventional Induced Anxiety group went through five standard Induced Anxiety sessions; and (3) biofeedback Induced Anxiety group went through a similar procedure except that biofeedback was used in the affect induction phase to facilitate heart rate increase. It was found that the biofeedback procedure did result in a greater heart rate increase during the affect induction phase arousal than did the conventional procedure (.01 level of significance), but did not facilitate subjective emotional arousal. Biofeedback Induced Anxiety resulted in a greater reduction of trait anxiety as measured by the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List than did the no-treatment group or the conventonal Induced Anxiety group. The conventional Induced Anxiety group did not differ significantly from the no-treatment control group.
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Misattribution of musical arousal increases sexual attraction towards opposite-sex faces in females.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Manuela M Marin
Full Text Available Several theories about the origins of music have emphasized its biological and social functions, including in courtship. Music may act as a courtship display due to its capacity to vary in complexity and emotional content. Support for music's reproductive function comes from the recent finding that only women in the fertile phase of the reproductive cycle prefer composers of complex melodies to composers of simple ones as short-term sexual partners, which is also in line with the ovulatory shift hypothesis. However, the precise mechanisms by which music may influence sexual attraction are unknown, specifically how music may interact with visual attractiveness cues and affect perception and behaviour in both genders. Using a crossmodal priming paradigm, we examined whether listening to music influences ratings of facial attractiveness and dating desirability of opposite-sex faces. We also tested whether misattribution of arousal or pleasantness underlies these effects, and explored whether sex differences and menstrual cycle phase may be moderators. Our sample comprised 64 women in the fertile or infertile phase (no hormonal contraception use and 32 men, carefully matched for mood, relationship status, and musical preferences. Musical primes (25 s varied in arousal and pleasantness, and targets were photos of faces with neutral expressions (2 s. Group-wise analyses indicated that women, but not men, gave significantly higher ratings of facial attractiveness and dating desirability after having listened to music than in the silent control condition. High-arousing, complex music yielded the largest effects, suggesting that music may affect human courtship behaviour through induced arousal, which calls for further studies on the mechanisms by which music affects sexual attraction in real-life social contexts.
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Laan, E.; van Lunsen, R. H.; Everaerd, W.
2001-01-01
AIMS: To compare the effects of 3 months' tibolone treatment with the effects of placebo on sexual function (in particular, vaginal blood flow, and sexual desire and arousability) and climacteric symptoms in postmenopausal women. METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, cross-over study was conducted in
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Dundon, Carolyn M; Rellini, Alessandra H
2012-10-01
Research suggests that there are three interrelated, yet distinct, emotion-motivation brain systems for human love (lust, romantic love, and attachment), each associated with a unique catecholaminergic and hormonal profile. Of interest for the current study are norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA), which have a hypothesized connection with romantic love. As NE and DA are also known to facilitate sexual arousal, it is plausible that NE and DA may have a greater positive association with the sexual arousal responses of women in romantic love compared with women in lust. This study investigated if the effects of NE and DA activity on sexual arousal responses would differ depending on emotion-motivation state (Lust or Romantic). Physiological sexual arousal was assessed by photoplethysmography and subjective sexual arousal was assessed with a participant-controlled lever. Seventeen women were included in the Lust group and 29 in the Romantic group. All participants provided a urine sample (to assess NE and DA) and completed a psychophysiological assessment. Elevated NE was positively and significantly associated with greater subjective and physiological sexual arousal for the Lust group, but not for the Romantic group. Similarly, elevated DA was positively and significantly associated with greater subjective sexual arousal for the Lust group, but not for the Romantic group. The sexual arousal responses of women in the Lust group, but not in the Romantic group, were positively and significantly associated with elevated NE and DA. It is feasible that, when women are seeking a partner (Lust), NE and DA may facilitate attention toward sexually relevant stimuli. © 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Ågmo, Anders
2014-06-01
Female sexual dysfunctions are a heterogeneous group of symptoms with unknown but probably varying etiology. Social factors may contribute both to the prevalence and to the origin of these dysfunctions. The present review focuses on female hypoactive sexual desire disorder, sexual arousal disorder and orgasmic disorder. These disorders are generally the most common, according to epidemiological studies, and they can all be considered as disorders of motivation. An incentive motivational model of sexual behavior, applicable to humans as well as to non-human animals, is described and the dysfunctions placed into the context of this model. It is shown that endocrine alterations as well as observable alterations in neurotransmitter activity are unlikely causes of the disorders. A potential role of learning is stressed. Nevertheless, the role of some transmitters in female rodent sexual behavior is analyzed, and compared to data from women, whenever such data are available. The conclusion is that there is no direct coincidence between effects on rodent copulatory behavior and sexual behavior in women. Based on these and other considerations, it is suggested that sexual approach behaviors rather than copulatory reflexes in rodents might be of some relevance for human sexual behavior, and perhaps even for predicting the effects of interventions, perhaps even the effects of drugs. Female copulatory behaviors, including the proceptive behaviors, are less appropriate. The common sexual dysfunctions in women are not problems with the performance of copulatory acts, but with the desire for such acts, by feeling aroused by such acts and experiencing the pleasure expected to be caused by such acts. Finally, it is questioned whether female sexual dysfunctions are appropriate targets for pharmacological treatment. © 2013.
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Kuan, Garry; Morris, Tony; Kueh, Yee Cheng; Terry, Peter C
2018-01-01
Music that is carefully selected to match the requirements of activities and the characteristics of individuals has been shown to produce significant impacts on performance enhancement (Priest et al., 2004). There is also evidence that music can enhance imagery (Grocke and Wigram, 2007), although few studies have investigated the effects of music on imagery in the context of sport skills. In the present study, the effects of relaxing and arousing music during imagery on dart-throwing performance, physiological arousal indices, and competitive state anxiety, were investigated among 63 novice dart throwers. Participants had moderate-to-high imagery ability and were randomly assigned to unfamiliar relaxing music (URM), unfamiliar arousing music (UAM), or no music (NM) groups. Performance was assessed by 40 dart throws at a concentric circles dartboard before and after 12 imagery sessions over 4 weeks. Measures of galvanic skin response (GSR), peripheral temperature (PT), and heart rate (HR) were taken during imagery sessions 1 and 12, and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised (CSAI-2R) was administered prior to the pre- and post-intervention performance task. Dart-throwing gain scores were significantly higher for URM than for UAM and NM, with no significant difference between UAM and NM (URM = 37.24 ± 5.66, UAM = 17.57 ± 5.30, and NM = 13.19 ± 6.14, F 2,62 = 5.03, p = 0.01, η 2 = 0.14). GSR, PT, and HR reflected lower arousal for URM than for UAM or NM. Significant decreases in somatic anxiety were evident for URM and UAM but not NM. Significant decreases in cognitive anxiety were evident for URM and NM but not UAM. Significant increases in self-confidence were evident for URM but not UAM or NM. Performance improved in all three conditions but URM was associated with the largest performance gain, the lowest physiological indices of arousal, and the most positive CSAI-2R profiles. Listening to relaxing music during imagery may have benefits for
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Garry Kuan
2018-02-01
Full Text Available Music that is carefully selected to match the requirements of activities and the characteristics of individuals has been shown to produce significant impacts on performance enhancement (Priest et al., 2004. There is also evidence that music can enhance imagery (Grocke and Wigram, 2007, although few studies have investigated the effects of music on imagery in the context of sport skills. In the present study, the effects of relaxing and arousing music during imagery on dart-throwing performance, physiological arousal indices, and competitive state anxiety, were investigated among 63 novice dart throwers. Participants had moderate-to-high imagery ability and were randomly assigned to unfamiliar relaxing music (URM, unfamiliar arousing music (UAM, or no music (NM groups. Performance was assessed by 40 dart throws at a concentric circles dartboard before and after 12 imagery sessions over 4 weeks. Measures of galvanic skin response (GSR, peripheral temperature (PT, and heart rate (HR were taken during imagery sessions 1 and 12, and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised (CSAI-2R was administered prior to the pre- and post-intervention performance task. Dart-throwing gain scores were significantly higher for URM than for UAM and NM, with no significant difference between UAM and NM (URM = 37.24 ± 5.66, UAM = 17.57 ± 5.30, and NM = 13.19 ± 6.14, F2,62 = 5.03, p = 0.01, η2 = 0.14. GSR, PT, and HR reflected lower arousal for URM than for UAM or NM. Significant decreases in somatic anxiety were evident for URM and UAM but not NM. Significant decreases in cognitive anxiety were evident for URM and NM but not UAM. Significant increases in self-confidence were evident for URM but not UAM or NM. Performance improved in all three conditions but URM was associated with the largest performance gain, the lowest physiological indices of arousal, and the most positive CSAI-2R profiles. Listening to relaxing music during imagery may have benefits for
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Schoenmaker, Christie; Huffmeijer, Renske; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; van den Dries, Linda; Linting, Mariëlle; van der Voort, Anja; Juffer, Femmie
2015-02-01
The associations between attachment representations of adopted young adults and their experiential and physiological arousal to infant crying were examined. Attachment representations were assessed with the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA), and the young adults listened to infant cries, during which ratings of cry perception were collected and physiological reactivity was measured. Secure adoptees showed a well-integrated response to infant distress: heart-rate increases and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) withdrawal were coupled with heightened perception of urgency in these individuals. In insecure adoptees RSA withdrawal was absent, and a combination of lowered perceived urgency and heightened sympathetic arousal was found, reflecting a deactivating style of emotional reactivity. Overall, our findings support the idea that internal working models of attachment explain individual differences in the way attachment-related information is processed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Brand, Matthias; Laier, Christian; Pawlikowski, Mirko; Schächtle, Ulrich; Schöler, Tobias; Altstötter-Gleich, Christine
2011-06-01
Excessive or addictive Internet use can be linked to different online activities, such as Internet gaming or cybersex. The usage of Internet pornography sites is one important facet of online sexual activity. The aim of the present work was to examine potential predictors of a tendency toward cybersex addiction in terms of subjective complaints in everyday life due to online sexual activities. We focused on the subjective evaluation of Internet pornographic material with respect to sexual arousal and emotional valence, as well as on psychological symptoms as potential predictors. We examined 89 heterosexual, male participants with an experimental task assessing subjective sexual arousal and emotional valence of Internet pornographic pictures. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and a modified version of the IAT for online sexual activities (IATsex), as well as several further questionnaires measuring psychological symptoms and facets of personality were also administered to the participants. Results indicate that self-reported problems in daily life linked to online sexual activities were predicted by subjective sexual arousal ratings of the pornographic material, global severity of psychological symptoms, and the number of sex applications used when being on Internet sex sites in daily life, while the time spent on Internet sex sites (minutes per day) did not significantly contribute to explanation of variance in IATsex score. Personality facets were not significantly correlated with the IATsex score. The study demonstrates the important role of subjective arousal and psychological symptoms as potential correlates of development or maintenance of excessive online sexual activity.
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2004-03-31
sex as myself masturbating it nauseates me. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 17. The thought of engaging in unusual sex practices is highly arousing...addition, this group’s cure often included abstaining from sex and masturbation in order to resensitize the erectile mechanism. A series of electrical...and mechanical anti- masturbation devices were developed to help those who found it difficult to abstain (Dunsmuir, 1999). In the late 1800s, Kellogg
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Paterson, Laurel Q P; Handy, Ariel B; Brotto, Lori A
2017-09-01
While few treatment options exist for low sexual desire and arousal, the most common sexual dysfunction in women, a growing body of research supports the efficacy of mindfulness-based approaches. The mechanisms underlying improvements, and whether they are due to mindfulness practice or other treatment components, are unclear. As a result, we designed and pilot-tested an eight-session group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for sexuality (MBCT-S) program that includes more extensive practice of mindfulness skills and closely aligns with the evidence-based MBCT program for depression and anxiety. A total of 26 women (mean age 43.9, range 25 to 63) with a diagnosis of sexual interest/arousal disorder participated in eight weekly group sessions, before and after which they completed validated questionnaires. The majority of women attended all sessions and completed the recommended at-home mindfulness exercises. Compared to baseline, women reported significant improvements in sexual desire, overall sexual function, and sex-related distress, regardless of treatment expectations, relationship duration, or low desire duration. Depressed mood and mindfulness also significantly improved and mediated increases in sexual function. These pilot data suggest that eight-session MBCT-S is feasible and significantly improves sexual function, and provide the basis for a larger randomized-controlled trial (RCT) with a longer follow-up period.
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An Analysis of College Students' Anonymous Questions about Human Sexuality.
Valois, Robert F.; Waring, Kathryn A.
1991-01-01
Study analyzed the frequency and type of questions about sexuality submitted anonymously by college students in health education courses over five semesters. The most common categories were sexual arousal/response; general anatomy/physiology; contraception; dating/relationships; pregnancy/fertility; and sexually transmitted diseases. The appendix…
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Female sexual arousal: genital anatomy and orgasm in intercourse.
Wallen, Kim; Lloyd, Elisabeth A
2011-05-01
In men and women sexual arousal culminates in orgasm, with female orgasm solely from sexual intercourse often regarded as a unique feature of human sexuality. However, orgasm from sexual intercourse occurs more reliably in men than in women, likely reflecting the different types of physical stimulation men and women require for orgasm. In men, orgasms are under strong selective pressure as orgasms are coupled with ejaculation and thus contribute to male reproductive success. By contrast, women's orgasms in intercourse are highly variable and are under little selective pressure as they are not a reproductive necessity. The proximal mechanisms producing variability in women's orgasms are little understood. In 1924 Marie Bonaparte proposed that a shorter distance between a woman's clitoris and her urethral meatus (CUMD) increased her likelihood of experiencing orgasm in intercourse. She based this on her published data that were never statistically analyzed. In 1940 Landis and colleagues published similar data suggesting the same relationship, but these data too were never fully analyzed. We analyzed raw data from these two studies and found that both demonstrate a strong inverse relationship between CUMD and orgasm during intercourse. Unresolved is whether this increased likelihood of orgasm with shorter CUMD reflects increased penile-clitoral contact during sexual intercourse or increased penile stimulation of internal aspects of the clitoris. CUMD likely reflects prenatal androgen exposure, with higher androgen levels producing larger distances. Thus these results suggest that women exposed to lower levels of prenatal androgens are more likely to experience orgasm during sexual intercourse. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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van Nes, Yvonne; Bloemers, Jos; Kessels, Rob; van der Heijden, Peter G M; van Rooij, Kim; Gerritsen, Jeroen; DeRogatis, Leonard; Tuiten, Adriaan
2018-05-01
Efficacy of on-demand drugs for women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder or female sexual interest/arousal disorder (FSIAD) should be assessed using a validated instrument that assesses the discrete sexual events during which the on-demand drug is taken, because this type of assessment is more proximate to an on-demand drug's efficacy compared to instruments that assess sexual function over longer periods of time. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Dutch translation of the previously validated 11-item Sexual Event Diary (SED) for measuring sexual satisfaction and sexual functioning during discrete sexual events. Psychometric assessment was performed on data of 1,840 SEDs from 139 women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder/FSIAD, collected during a randomized clinical cross-over trial conducted in the Netherlands. Item scores of the SED at the event level, and at subject level, summarized item scores during the placebo run-in period (PRI) and active treatment period, and score changes from PRI to active treatment period. Reliability and convergent validity were confirmed. All item scores showed the ability to discriminate between known groups. Larger mean score changes from PRI were observed in groups with known benefit from the medication, as compared to those with no benefit. Guyatt effect sizes ranged from 0.51-1.02, thereby demonstrating ability to detect change. The Dutch version of the SED is an excellent instrument for assessing female sexual functioning and sexual satisfaction during discrete sexual events and for assessing these concepts over longer periods of time. Data were collected in a randomized, well-controlled trial. The large number of data points gave high statistical power, and the results confirmed previous findings. However, care is needed when generalizing the SED's validity to other areas of research, eg, recreational drug use and sexual risky behaviors, since the current validation study has not used
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Functional wiring of hypocretin and LC-NE neurons: implications for arousal.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Matthew E Carter
2013-05-01
Full Text Available To survive in a rapidly changing environment, animals must sense their external world and internal physiological state and properly regulate levels of arousal. Levels of arousal that are abnormally high may result in inefficient use of internal energy stores and unfocused attention to salient environmental stimuli. Alternatively, levels of arousal that are abnormally low may result in the inability to properly seek food, water, sexual partners, and other factors necessary for life. In the brain, neurons that express hypocretin neuropeptides may be uniquely posed to sense the external and internal state of the animal and tune arousal state according to behavioral needs. In recent years, we have applied temporally precise optogenetic techniques to study the role of these neurons and their downstream connections in regulating arousal. In particular, we have found that noradrenergic neurons in the brainstem locus coeruleus are particularly important for mediating the effects of hypocretin neurons on arousal. Here, we discuss our recent results and consider the implications of the anatomical connectivity of these neurons in regulating the arousal state of an organism across various states of sleep and wakefulness.
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DePesa, Natasha S; Cassisi, Jeffrey E
2017-09-01
Disgust has recently been implicated in the development and maintenance of female sexual dysfunction, yet most empirical studies have been conducted with a sexually healthy sample. The current study contributes to the literature by expanding the application of a disgust model of sexual functioning to a clinically relevant sample of women with low sexual desire/arousal and accompanying sexual distress. Young women (mean age = 19.12 years) with psychometrically defined sexual dysfunction (i.e., female sexual interest/arousal disorder [FSIAD] group) and a healthy control group were compared in their affective (i.e., facial electromyography [EMG] and self-report) and autonomic (i.e., heart rate and electrodermal activity) responses to disgusting, erotic, positive, and neutral images. Significant differences were predicted in responses to erotic images only. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the FSIAD group would display affective and autonomic responses consistent with a disgust response, while responses from the control group would align with a general appetitive response. Results largely supported study hypotheses. The FSIAD group displayed significantly greater negative facial affect, reported more subjective disgust, and recorded greater heart rate deceleration than the control group in response to erotic stimuli. Greater subjective disgust response corresponded with more sexual avoidance behavior. Planned follow-up analyses explored correlates of subjective disgust responses.
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Self-Awareness of the Male Sexual Response after Spinal Cord Injury
Cardoso, Fernando Luiz; Savall, Ana Carolina R.; Mendes, Aline K.
2009-01-01
The aim of this study was to assess the impact of spinal cord injury on men's sexual motivation, through the sexual desire self-assessment, and the sexual arousal and orgasm physiological responses. This research consisted of a descriptive, nonprobabilistic and comparative study, designed to outline the target population characteristics to compare…
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Physiological arousal deficits in addicted gamers differ based on preferred game genre.
Metcalf, Olivia; Pammer, Kristen
2014-01-01
There has been significant discussion surrounding the psychopathology of excessive gaming and whether it constitutes an addiction. The current study investigated physiological and subjective levels of arousal in gamers of two genres and the relationship between sensation seeking and gaming addiction. Heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and skin conductance were recorded at baseline, during gaming for 15 min and after gaming in 30 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and 30 first-person shooter (FPS) male gamers. Gamers were identified as addicted using the Addiction-Engagement Questionnaire. Sensation seeking was measured using the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking. Addicted MMORPG gamers (n=16) displayed significant decreases in cardiovascular activity during gaming compared to baseline and showed significant increases after gaming. Addicted FPS gamers (n=13) had significant increases in BP during gaming which decreased significantly after gaming. In comparison, non-addicted MMORPG gamers (n=14) had significant decreases in HR during gaming, whereas BP in non-addicted MMORPG and FPS gamers (n=17) increased during gaming and after gaming. There were no significant relationships between sensation seeking and addiction. There are physiological arousal deficits in addicted gamers, and these patterns differ according to the genre of game played. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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Zhou, Ya; Siu, Angela F Y
2015-12-01
Recent research on the construct of emotion suggests the integration of a motivational dimension into the traditional two-dimension (subjective valence and physiological arousal) model. The motivational intensity of an emotional state should be taken into account while investigating the emotion-cognition relationship. This study examined how positive emotional states varying in motivational intensity influenced set shifting, after controlling the potential confounding impacts of physiological arousal. In Experiment 1, 155 volunteers performed a set-shifting task after being randomly assigned to five states: high- vs. low-motivating positive affect (interest vs. serenity), high- vs. low-motivating negative affect (disgust vs. anxiety), and neutral state. Eighty-five volunteers participated in Experiment 2, which further examined the effects of higher vs. lower degree of interest. Both experiments measured and compared participants' physiological arousal (blood pressure and pulse rate) under the normal and experimental conditions as the covariate. Results showed no difference in switching performance between the neutral and serenity groups. As compared with the neutral state, the high-motivating positive affect significantly increased set-switching reaction time costs, but reduced error rate costs; the higher the motivational intensity, the greater the time-costs impairment. This indicates a role of the high-motivating positive affect in regulating the balance between the flexible and stable cognitive control. Motivational intensity also modulated the effects of negative emotional states, i.e., disgust caused a larger increase in time costs than anxiety. Further exploration into neurobiological mechanisms that may mediate the emotional effects on set shifting is warranted. © 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Hypocretin as a Hub for Arousal and Motivation
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Susan M. Tyree
2018-06-01
Full Text Available The lateral hypothalamus is comprised of a heterogeneous mix of neurons that serve to integrate and regulate sleep, feeding, stress, energy balance, reward, and motivated behavior. Within these populations, the hypocretin/orexin neurons are among the most well studied. Here, we provide an overview on how these neurons act as a central hub integrating sensory and physiological information to tune arousal and motivated behavior accordingly. We give special attention to their role in sleep-wake states and conditions of hyper-arousal, as is the case with stress-induced anxiety. We further discuss their roles in feeding, drug-seeking, and sexual behavior, which are all dependent on the motivational state of the animal. We further emphasize the application of powerful techniques, such as optogenetics, chemogenetics, and fiber photometry, to delineate the role these neurons play in lateral hypothalamic functions.
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Hamilton, Lisa Dawn; Meston, Cindy M
2011-05-01
Stress and anxiety are commonly thought to be detrimental to sexual function. Several studies in both the human and animal literature, however, have found that inducing anxiety can enhance sexual function in women. The mechanisms that explain a negative relationship between physical and psychological stress and sexual functioning are well documented, but little is known about how stress or anxiety might have a facilitatory effect on sexual arousal. As an initial step in exploring the relationship between anxiety and sexual arousal, the present study examined the role of the autonomic nervous system, and the adrenal hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) in response to a sexual film, an anxiety-inducing film, and a humorous film. Nineteen premenopausal women (mean age 24.4 years) who were free from sexual difficulties came into the lab on three separate days. At each session they were shown an anxiety-inducing, sexually arousing, or humorous (control) film while their physiological arousal was measured. They also provided saliva samples before and after each film. Cortisol significantly decreased, while DHEA-S increased in the sexual and humorous conditions. Neither hormone changed significantly in the anxiety-inducing condition. Autonomic nervous system activity measured by heart rate and heart rate variability did not change in response to the sexual or anxiety-inducing films, but heart rate variability increased significantly in response to the humorous film. The cortisol/DHEA-S ratio at the post-sexual film time point was significantly negatively correlated with genital arousal (measured by vaginal pulse amplitude). Anxiety-inducing films did not result in a physiological stress response, which can explain why they do not impair sexual function. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Is there an inhibitory role of cortisol in the mechanism of male sexual arousal and penile erection?
Uckert, Stefan; Fuhlenriede, Mark H; Becker, Armin J; Stief, Christian G; Scheller, Friedemann; Knapp, Wolfram H; Jonas, Udo
2003-12-01
It has been speculated for more than 2 decades whether there is a significance of adrenal corticosteroids, such as cortisol, in the process of normal male sexual function, especially in the control of sexual arousal and the penile erectile tissue. However, only few in vivo studies have been carried out up until now on the effects of cortisol on human male sexual performance and penile erection. In order to evaluate further the role of cortisol in male sexual activity, the present study was conducted to detect serum levels of cortisol in the systemic and cavernous blood taken during different penile conditions from healthy males. The effects of cortisol derivative prednisolone, catecholamine norepinephrine (NE) and the peptide endothelin-1 (ET-1) on isolated human corpus cavernosum (HCC) were investigated using the organ bath technique. Fifty-four healthy adult male subjects were exposed to erotic stimuli in order to elicit penile tumescence and rigidity. Whole blood was simultaneously aspirated from the corpus cavernosum and the cubital vein during different penile conditions. Serum levels of cortisol (microg/dl) were determined by means of a radioimmunoassay (ELISA). In the healthy volunteers, cortisol serum levels significantly decreased in the systemic circulation and the cavernous blood with increasing sexual arousal, when the flaccid penis became rigid. During detumescence, the mean cortisol level remained unaltered in the systemic circulation, whereas in the cavernous compartment, it was found to decrease further. Under all penile conditions, no significant differences were registered between cortisol levels in the systemic circulation and in the cavernous blood. Cumulative addition of NE and ET-1 (0.001-10 microM) induced contraction of isolated HCC strips, whereas the contractile response to prednisolone was negligible. Our results strongly suggest an inhibitory role for cortisol in the mechanism of male sexual response and behaviour. These properties are
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Influence of Body Odors and Gender on Perceived Genital Arousal.
Alves-Oliveira, Patrícia; Carvalho, Joana; Ferreira, Jacqueline; Alho, Laura; Nobre, Pedro; Olsson, Mats J; Soares, Sandra C
2018-04-01
Olfaction is often linked to mating behavior in nonhumans. Additionally, studies in mating behavior have shown that women seem to be more affected by odor cues than men. However, the relationship between odor cues and sexual response-specifically, sexual arousal-has not been studied yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the exposure to human body odors (from individuals of the opposite gender) on perceived genital arousal, while these were presented concomitantly to sexually explicit video clips. Eighty university students (40 women) rated their perceived genital arousal (perceived degree of erection/genital lubrication) in response to an audiovisual sexual stimulus, while simultaneously exposed to a body odor from an opposite-gender donor or no odor. Participants also rated each odor sample's (body odor and no odor) perceived pleasantness, intensity, and familiarity. Findings indicated that odor condition had an effect on women's (but not men's) perceived genital arousal, with women showing higher levels of perceived genital arousal in the no odor condition. Also, results showed that women rated body odors as less pleasant than no odor. Notwithstanding, the odor ratings do not seem to explain the association between body odor and perceived genital arousal. The current results support the hypothesis that women, rather than men, are sensitive to odors in the context of sexual response. The findings of this study have relevance for the understanding of human sexuality with respect to chemosensory communication.
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The influence of atypical antipsychotic drugs on sexual function
Just, Marek J
2015-01-01
Marek J Just Department of General and Endocrine Surgery, Piekary Medical Centre, Piekary Slaskie, Poland Abstract: Human sexuality is contingent upon many biological and psychological factors. Such factors include sexual drive (libido), physiological arousal (lubrication/erection), orgasm, and ejaculation, as well as maintaining normal menstrual cycle. The assessment of sexual dysfunction can be difficult due to the intimate nature of the problem and patients’ unwillingness to di...
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Levin, Roy J.; Both, Stephanie; Georgiadis, Janniko; Kukkonen, Tuuli; Park, Kwangsung; Yang, Claire C.
Introduction: The article consists of six sections written by separate authors that review female genital anatomy, the physiology of female sexual function, and the pathophysiology of female sexual dysfunction but excluding hormonal aspects. Aim: To review the physiology of female sexual function
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Increased sexual arousal in patients with movement disorders.
Teive, Hélio A G; Moro, Adriana; Moscovich, Mariana; Munhoz, Renato P
2016-04-01
Increased of sexual arousal (ISA) has been described in different neurological diseases. The purpose of this study was present a case series of ISA in patients with movement disorders. Fifteen patients with different forms of movement disorders (Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, spinocerebellar ataxia type 3), were evaluated in the Movement Disorders Unit of the Federal University of Paraná. Among Parkinson's disease patients there were seven cases with different forms of ISA due to dopaminergic agonist use, levodopa abuse, and deep brain stimulation (DBS). In the group with hyperkinetic disorders, two patients with Huntington's disease, two with Tourette's syndrome, and four with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 presented with ISA. ISA in this group of patients had different etiologies, predominantly related to dopaminergic treatment or DBS in Parkinson's disease, part of the background clinical picture in Huntington's disease and Tourette's syndrome, and probably associated with cultural aspects in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3.
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Teusch, L; Scherbaum, N; Böhme, H; Bender, S; Eschmann-Mehl, G; Gastpar, M
1995-05-01
Little is known about sexual dysfunctions associated with psychiatric disorders and psychopharmacological treatment. In the present study schizophrenic patients (n = 45, mostly under neuroleptic treatment), neurotic patients (n = 50, mostly treated without medication), methadone-substituted opiate addicts (n = 37), and normal controls (n = 41) were included. They were interviewed with the aid of a sex-differentiated semistructured questionnaire on sexual function. All the methadone-substituted opiate addicts and nearly all the schizophrenic patients suffered from dysfunctions in at least one criterion. The three clinical groups differed significantly from the controls in sexual interest, emotional arousal, physiological arousal (erectile function/vaginal lubrication), performance (ejaculatory function/vaginism, dyspareunia), and orgasm satisfaction. Characteristic patterns of dysfunction were found in the male patients. The schizophrenic patients had significantly more dysfunctions of interest, physiological arousal, performance, and orgasm than the controls. Emotional arousal, erectile and ejaculatory functions, and orgasm satisfaction were impaired more frequently in the male schizophrenics than in the neurotic patients. Reduced sexual interest, emotional arousal, and orgasm satisfaction were reported more frequently by the methadone-substituted opiate addicts than by the neurotic men. Emotional arousal was even more frequently reduced than in the schizophrenic men. There was no correlation between sexual dysfunction and particular neuroleptics or neuroleptic or methadone dosage. The results are compared with the literature and suggestions made for further investigations.
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Sep, Milou S. C.; van Osch, Mara; van Vliet, Liesbeth M.; Smets, Ellen M. A.; Bensing, Jozien M.
2014-01-01
The diagnosis of incurable cancer may evoke physiological arousal in patients. Physiological arousal can negatively impact patients' recall of information provided in the medical consultation. We aim to investigate whether clinicians' affective communication during a bad news consultation will
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Barlett, Christopher P; Rodeheffer, Christopher
2009-01-01
Previous research has shown that playing violent video game exposure can increase aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, and physiological arousal. This study compared the effects that playing a realistic violent, unrealistic violent, or nonviolent video game for 45 min has on such variables. For the purpose of this study, realism was defined as the probability of seeing an event in real life. Participants (N=74; 39 male, 35 female) played either a realistic violent, unrealistic violent, or nonviolent video game for 45 min. Aggressive thoughts and aggressive feelings were measured four times (every 15 min), whereas arousal was measured continuously. The results showed that, though playing any violent game stimulated aggressive thoughts, playing a more realistic violent game stimulated significantly more aggressive feelings and arousal over the course of play. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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Bocher, M; Chisin, R; Parag, Y; Freedman, N; Meir Weil, Y; Lester, H; Mishani, E; Bonne, O
2001-07-01
This study attempted to use PET and 15O-H2O to measure changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during sexual arousal evoked in 10 young heterosexual males while they watched a pornographic video clip, featuring heterosexual intercourse. This condition was compared with other mental setups evoked by noisy, nature, and talkshow audiovisual clips. Immediately after each clip, the participants answered three questions pertaining to what extent they thought about sex, felt aroused, and sensed an erection. They scored their answers using a 1 to 10 scale. SPM was used for data analysis. Sexual arousal was mainly associated with activation of bilateral, predominantly right, inferoposterior extrastriate cortices, of the right inferolateral prefrontal cortex and of the midbrain. The significance of those findings is discussed in the light of current theories concerning selective attention, "mind reading" and mirroring, reinforcement of pleasurable stimuli, and penile erection.
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Rauch, Shannon M; Strobel, Cara; Bella, Megan; Odachowski, Zachary; Bloom, Christopher
2014-03-01
The present study tested two competing hypotheses about the effect of Facebook exposure on the physiological arousal level of participants who then encountered the stimulus person in a face-to-face situation. Facebook exposure may attenuate later arousal by providing increased comfort and confidence, but it is also possible that Facebook exposure will augment arousal, particularly among the socially anxious. Participants completed a measure of social anxiety and were exposed to a stimulus person via Facebook, face to face, or both. Galvanic skin response was recorded during the exposures to the stimulus person. Results were consistent with the augmentation hypothesis: a prior exposure on Facebook will lead to increased arousal during a face-to-face encounter, particularly for those high in social anxiety.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Hyung Joong; Jeong, Gwang Woo; Eun, Sung Jong; Cho, Seong Hoon; Seo, Jeong Jin; Kang, Heoung Keun; Park, Kwang Sung
2004-01-01
The present study utilized 3.0 Tesla functional MR imaging to identify and quantify the activated brain regions associated with visually evoked sexual arousal, and also to discriminate the gender differences between the cortical activation patterns in response to sexual stimuli. A total of 24 healthy, right-handed volunteers, 14 males (mean age: 24) and 10 females (mean age: 23), with normal heterosexual function underwent functional MRI on a 3.0T MR scanner (Forte, Isole technique, Korea). The sexual stimulation consisted of a 1-minute rest with black screen, followed by a 3- minute stimulation by an erotic video film, and concluded with a 1-minute rest. The fMRI data was obtained from 20 slices (5 mm slice thickness, no gap) parallel to the AC-PC (anterior commissure and posterior commissure) line on the sagittal plane, giving a total of 2,100 images. The brain activation maps and the resulting quantification were analyzed by the statistical parametric mapping program, SPM 99. The mean-activated images were obtained from each individual activation map using one sampled t-test. The FALBA program, which is a new algorithm based on the pixel differentiation method, was used to identify and quantify the brain activation and lateralization indices with respect to the functional and anatomical terms. In both male and female volunteers, significant brain activation showed in the limbic areas of the parahippocampal gyrus, septal area, cingulate gyrus and thalamus. It is interesting to note that the septal areas gave a relatively lower activation ratio with high brain activities. On the contrary, the putamen, insula cortex, and corpus callosum gave a higher activation ratio with low brain activities. In particular, brain activation in the septal area, which was not reported in the previous fMRI studies under 1.5 Tesla, represents a distinct finding of this study using 3.0T MR scanner. The overall lateralization index of activation shows left predominance (LI= 35.3%) in
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kim, Hyung Joong; Jeong, Gwang Woo; Eun, Sung Jong; Cho, Seong Hoon; Seo, Jeong Jin; Kang, Heoung Keun; Park, Kwang Sung [School of Medicine, Chonnam National Univ., Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)
2004-08-01
The present study utilized 3.0 Tesla functional MR imaging to identify and quantify the activated brain regions associated with visually evoked sexual arousal, and also to discriminate the gender differences between the cortical activation patterns in response to sexual stimuli. A total of 24 healthy, right-handed volunteers, 14 males (mean age: 24) and 10 females (mean age: 23), with normal heterosexual function underwent functional MRI on a 3.0T MR scanner (Forte, Isole technique, Korea). The sexual stimulation consisted of a 1-minute rest with black screen, followed by a 3- minute stimulation by an erotic video film, and concluded with a 1-minute rest. The fMRI data was obtained from 20 slices (5 mm slice thickness, no gap) parallel to the AC-PC (anterior commissure and posterior commissure) line on the sagittal plane, giving a total of 2,100 images. The brain activation maps and the resulting quantification were analyzed by the statistical parametric mapping program, SPM 99. The mean-activated images were obtained from each individual activation map using one sampled t-test. The FALBA program, which is a new algorithm based on the pixel differentiation method, was used to identify and quantify the brain activation and lateralization indices with respect to the functional and anatomical terms. In both male and female volunteers, significant brain activation showed in the limbic areas of the parahippocampal gyrus, septal area, cingulate gyrus and thalamus. It is interesting to note that the septal areas gave a relatively lower activation ratio with high brain activities. On the contrary, the putamen, insula cortex, and corpus callosum gave a higher activation ratio with low brain activities. In particular, brain activation in the septal area, which was not reported in the previous fMRI studies under 1.5 Tesla, represents a distinct finding of this study using 3.0T MR scanner. The overall lateralization index of activation shows left predominance (LI= 35.3%) in
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Physiology of Women's Sexual Function : Basic Knowledge and New Findings
Salonia, Andrea; Giraldi, Annamaria; Chivers, Meredith L.; Georgiadis, Janniko R.; Levin, Roy; Maravilla, Kenneth R.; McCarthy, Margaret M.
Introduction. Data concerning the physiology of female sexual functioning are still obtained from animal studies, but an increasing amount of novel evidence comes from human studies. Aim. To gain knowledge of psychological and biologic physiology of women's sexual functioning, mainly addressing
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Increased sexual arousal in patients with movement disorders
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hélio A. G. Teive
2016-04-01
Full Text Available ABSTRACT Increased of sexual arousal (ISA has been described in different neurological diseases. The purpose of this study was present a case series of ISA in patients with movement disorders. Method Fifteen patients with different forms of movement disorders (Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Tourette´s syndrome, spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, were evaluated in the Movement Disorders Unit of the Federal University of Paraná. Results Among Parkinson’s disease patients there were seven cases with different forms of ISA due to dopaminergic agonist use, levodopa abuse, and deep brain stimulation (DBS. In the group with hyperkinetic disorders, two patients with Huntington’s disease, two with Tourette’s syndrome, and four with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 presented with ISA. Conclusions ISA in this group of patients had different etiologies, predominantly related to dopaminergic treatment or DBS in Parkinson’s disease, part of the background clinical picture in Huntington’s disease and Tourette’s syndrome, and probably associated with cultural aspects in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3.
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Etiology and Management of Sexual Dysfunction
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Narendra Kumar Muthugaduru Shivarudrappa
2009-09-01
Full Text Available Sexual dysfunction is the impairment or disruption of any of the three phases of normal sexual functioning, including loss of libido, impairment of physiological arousal and loss, delay or alteration of orgasm. Each one of these can be affected by an orchestra of factors like senility, medical and surgical illnesses, medications and drugs of abuse. Non-pharmacological therapy is the main stay in the treatment of sexual dysfunction and drugs are used as adjuncts for a quicker and better result. Management in many of the cases depends on the primary cause. Here is a review of the major etiological factors of sexual dysfunction and its management
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Sep, Milou S C; van Osch, Mara; van Vliet, Liesbeth M; Smets, Ellen M A; Bensing, Jozien M
2014-04-01
The diagnosis of incurable cancer may evoke physiological arousal in patients. Physiological arousal can negatively impact patients' recall of information provided in the medical consultation. We aim to investigate whether clinicians' affective communication during a bad news consultation will decrease patients' physiological arousal and will improve recall. Healthy women (N=50), acting as analogue patients, were randomly assigned to watch one out of the two versions of a scripted video-vignette of a bad news consultation in which clinician's communication differed: standard vs. affective communication. Participants' skin conductance levels were obtained during video-watching, and afterwards their recall was assessed. While the diagnosis increased skin conductance levels in all analogue patients, skin conductance levels during the remainder of the consultation decreased more in the affective communication condition than in the standard condition. Analogue patients' recall was significantly higher in the affective condition. Breaking bad news evokes physiological arousal. Affective communication can decrease this evoked physiological arousal and might be partly responsible for analogue patients' enhanced information recall. Although our findings need to be translated to clinical patients, they suggest that clinicians need to deal with patients' emotions before providing additional medical information. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Levin, Roy J; Both, Stephanie; Georgiadis, Janniko; Kukkonen, Tuuli; Park, Kwangsung; Yang, Claire C
2016-05-01
The article consists of six sections written by separate authors that review female genital anatomy, the physiology of female sexual function, and the pathophysiology of female sexual dysfunction but excluding hormonal aspects. To review the physiology of female sexual function and the pathophysiology of female sexual dysfunction especially since 2010 and to make specific recommendations according to the Oxford Centre for evidence based medicine (2009) "levels of evidence" wherever relevant. Recommendations were made for particular studies to be undertaken especially in controversial aspects in all six sections of the reviewed topics. Despite numerous laboratory assessments of female sexual function, genital assessments alone appear insufficient to characterise fully the complete sexual response. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Anatomy and physiology of genital organs - women.
Graziottin, Alessandra; Gambini, Dania
2015-01-01
"Anatomy is destiny": Sigmund Freud viewed human anatomy as a necessary, although not a sufficient, condition for understanding the complexity of human sexual function with a solid biologic basis. The aim of the chapter is to describe women's genital anatomy and physiology, focusing on women's sexual function with a clinically oriented vision. Key points include: embryology, stressing that the "female" is the anatomic "default" program, differentiated into "male" only in the presence of androgens at physiologic levels for the gestational age; sex determination and sex differentiation, describing the interplay between anatomic and endocrine factors; the "clitoral-urethral-vaginal" complex, the most recent anatomy reading of the corpora cavernosa pattern in women; the controversial G spot; the role of the pelvic floor muscles in modulating vaginal receptivity and intercourse feelings, with hyperactivity leading to introital dyspareunia and contributing to provoked vestibulodynia and recurrent postcoital cystitis, whilst lesions during delivery reduce vaginal sensations, genital arousability, and orgasm; innervation, vessels, bones, ligaments; and the physiology of women's sexual response. Attention to physiologic aging focuses on "low-grade inflammation," genital and systemic, with its impact on women sexual function, especially after the menopause, if the woman does not or cannot use hormone replacement therapy. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Recent advances in female sexual dysfunction.
Davis, A R
2000-06-01
Female sexuality has received little scientific study. Recently, increased interest in this field has generated new research in the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacotherapy of female sexual dysfunction (FSD). A new FSD classification system has been proposed. Although sexual difficulties are highly prevalent among women, the degree of associated distress is unknown. Risk factors for FSD are probably both psychologic and physiologic. Aging or menopause is associated with lubrication difficulties, which can be treated with hormone replacement. Hysterectomy seems more likely to result in improvement rather then deterioration of sexual functioning. Depression may be a predictor of sexual dysfunction after hysterectomy. Vasoactive agents are currently being evaluated as treatment for female sexual arousal disorder. The most important advance in the study of female sexual function is the recent surge of interest in this relatively unexplored field.
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Puppo, Vincenzo
2013-01-01
This review, with 21 figures and 1 video, aims to clarify some important aspects of the anatomy and physiology of the female erectile organs (triggers of orgasm), which are important for the prevention of female sexual dysfunction. The clitoris is the homologue of the male's glans and corpora cavernosa, and erection is reached in three phases: latent, turgid, and rigid. The vestibular bulbs cause "vaginal" orgasmic contractions, through the rhythmic contraction of the bulbocavernosus muscles. Because of the engorgement with blood during sexual arousal, the labia minora become turgid, doubling or tripling in thickness. The corpus spongiosum of the female urethra becomes congested during sexual arousal; therefore, male erection equals erection of the female erectile organs. The correct anatomical term to describe the erectile tissues responsible for female orgasm is the female penis. Vaginal orgasm and the G-spot do not exist. These claims are found in numerous articles that have been written by Addiego F, Whipple B, Jannini E, Buisson O, O'Connell H, Brody S, Ostrzenski A, and others, have no scientific basis. Orgasm is an intense sensation of pleasure achieved by stimulation of erogenous zones. Women do not have a refractory period after each orgasm and can, therefore, experience multiple orgasms. Clitoral sexual response and the female orgasm are not affected by aging. Sexologists should define having sex/love making when orgasm occurs for both partners with or without vaginal intercourse. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Claret, Laurent; Cox, Eugene H; McFadyen, Lynn; Pidgen, Alwyn; Johnson, Patrick J; Haughie, Scott; Boolell, Mitra; Bruno, Rene
2006-08-01
To develop a model to explore the dose-response of sildenafil citrate in patients with female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) based on telephone sexual activity daily diary (TSADD) data obtained in double-blind, placebo controlled clinical studies. Data were available on 614 patients with FSAD. A parametric model (Weibull distribution) was developed to describe the probability density function of the time between sexual events. Orgasm satisfaction scores and overall sexual satisfaction scores were simultaneously modeled as ordered categorical variables. Simulations were performed to evaluate the expected clinical response in patients with FSAD. The expected time between sexual events was approximately 3.5 days. Satisfaction scores increased with time to achieve a plateau after 3 to 4 weeks on treatment. The expected probability of satisfying orgasm (score of 3 and higher) ranged from 34.7% for placebo to 41.6% for 100 mg sildenafil citrate. Treatment effect (difference from placebo) was 6.9% for 100 mg sildenafil citrate, ranging from 0.6 to 24.7% for testosterone levels of 0.1 to 4.0 pg/ml. The treatment effect in postmenopausal women was larger than in premenopausal women. A modeling and simulation framework to support drug development in FSAD was developed. Sildenafil citrate demonstrated a dose-dependent effect in patients with FSAD.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sundaram, Thirunavukkarasu; Jeong, Gwang Woo; Kim, Tae Hoon; Kim, Gwang Won; Baek, Han Su; Kang, Heoung Keun
2010-01-01
To assess the dynamic activations of the key brain areas associated with the time-course of the sexual arousal evoked by visual sexual stimuli in healthy male subjects. Fourteen right-handed heterosexual male volunteers participated in this study. Alternatively combined rest period and erotic video visual stimulation were used according to the standard block design. In order to illustrate and quantify the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions, the activation period was divided into three different stages as the EARLY, MID and LATE stages. For the group result (p < 0.05), when comparing the MID stage with the EARLY stage, a significant increase of the brain activation was observed in the areas that included the inferior frontal gyrus, the supplementary motor area, the hippocampus, the head of the caudate nucleus, the midbrain, the superior occipital gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. At the same time, when comparing the EARLY stage with the MID stage, the putamen, the globus pallidus, the pons, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the lingual gyrus and the cuneus yielded significantly increased activations. When comparing the LATE stage with the MID stage, all the above mentioned brain regions showed elevated activations except the hippocampus. Our results illustrate the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions across the three stages of visual sexual arousal
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sundaram, Thirunavukkarasu; Jeong, Gwang Woo; Kim, Tae Hoon; Kim, Gwang Won; Baek, Han Su; Kang, Heoung Keun [Chonnam National University Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)
2010-06-15
To assess the dynamic activations of the key brain areas associated with the time-course of the sexual arousal evoked by visual sexual stimuli in healthy male subjects. Fourteen right-handed heterosexual male volunteers participated in this study. Alternatively combined rest period and erotic video visual stimulation were used according to the standard block design. In order to illustrate and quantify the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions, the activation period was divided into three different stages as the EARLY, MID and LATE stages. For the group result (p < 0.05), when comparing the MID stage with the EARLY stage, a significant increase of the brain activation was observed in the areas that included the inferior frontal gyrus, the supplementary motor area, the hippocampus, the head of the caudate nucleus, the midbrain, the superior occipital gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. At the same time, when comparing the EARLY stage with the MID stage, the putamen, the globus pallidus, the pons, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the lingual gyrus and the cuneus yielded significantly increased activations. When comparing the LATE stage with the MID stage, all the above mentioned brain regions showed elevated activations except the hippocampus. Our results illustrate the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions across the three stages of visual sexual arousal.
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Sundaram, Thirunavukkarasu; Jeong, Gwang-Woo; Kim, Tae-Hoon; Kim, Gwang-Won; Baek, Han-Su; Kang, Heoung-Keun
2010-01-01
To assess the dynamic activations of the key brain areas associated with the time-course of the sexual arousal evoked by visual sexual stimuli in healthy male subjects. Fourteen right-handed heterosexual male volunteers participated in this study. Alternatively combined rest period and erotic video visual stimulation were used according to the standard block design. In order to illustrate and quantify the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions, the activation period was divided into three different stages as the EARLY, MID and LATE stages. For the group result (p < 0.05), when comparing the MID stage with the EARLY stage, a significant increase of the brain activation was observed in the areas that included the inferior frontal gyrus, the supplementary motor area, the hippocampus, the head of the caudate nucleus, the midbrain, the superior occipital gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. At the same time, when comparing the EARLY stage with the MID stage, the putamen, the globus pallidus, the pons, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the lingual gyrus and the cuneus yielded significantly increased activations. When comparing the LATE stage with the MID stage, all the above mentioned brain regions showed elevated activations except the hippocampus. Our results illustrate the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions across the three stages of visual sexual arousal.
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Sexual picture processing interferes with decision-making under ambiguity.
Laier, Christian; Pawlikowski, Mirko; Brand, Matthias
2014-04-01
Many people watch sexually arousing material on the Internet in order to receive sexual arousal and gratification. When browsing for sexual stimuli, individuals have to make several decisions, all possibly leading to positive or negative consequences. Decision-making research has shown that decisions under ambiguity are influenced by consequences received following earlier decisions. Sexual arousal might interfere with the decision-making process and should therefore lead to disadvantageous decision-making in the long run. In the current study, 82 heterosexual, male participants watched sexual pictures, rated them with respect to sexual arousal, and were asked to indicate their current level of sexual arousal before and following the sexual picture presentation. Afterwards, subjects performed one of two modified versions of the Iowa Gambling Task in which sexual pictures were displayed on the advantageous and neutral pictures on the disadvantageous card decks or vice versa (n = 41/n = 41). Results demonstrated an increase of sexual arousal following the sexual picture presentation. Decision-making performance was worse when sexual pictures were associated with disadvantageous card decks compared to performance when the sexual pictures were linked to the advantageous decks. Subjective sexual arousal moderated the relationship between task condition and decision-making performance. This study emphasized that sexual arousal interfered with decision-making, which may explain why some individuals experience negative consequences in the context of cybersex use.
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2004-01-01
functioning group 7 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Zilbergeld’s (1999) Myths of Male Sexuality Table 2. Timeline of Information Collected During the Study...have some degree of calcification in their phallus to aid entry into the vagina . Protracted erections for the purpose of pleasure are extremely rare...or cultural taboos about sex that influenced their cognitive development. In addition, dysfunctional men tend to believe more myths about sex than
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Paredes, Raúl G; Agmo, Anders
2004-06-01
The role of dopaminergic systems in the control of sexual behavior has been a subject of study for at least 40 years. Not surprisingly, reviews of the area have been published at variable intervals. However, the earlier reviews have been summaries of published research rather than a critical analysis of it. They have focused upon the conclusions presented in the original research papers rather than on evaluating the reliability and functional significance of the data reported to support these conclusions. During the last few years, important new knowledge concerning dopaminergic systems and their behavioral functions as well as the possible role of these systems in sexual behavior has been obtained. For the first time, it is now possible to integrate the data obtained in studies of sexual behavior into the wider context of general dopaminergic functions. To make this possible, we first present an analysis of the nature and organization of sexual behavior followed by a summary of current knowledge about the brain structures of crucial importance for this behavior. We then proceed with a description of the dopaminergic systems within or projecting to these structures. Whenever possible, we also try to include data on the electrophysiological actions of dopamine. Thereafter, we proceed with analyses of pharmacological data and release studies, both in males and in females. Consistently throughout this discussion, we make an effort to distinguish pharmacological effects on sexual behavior from a possible physiological role of dopamine. By pharmacological effects, we mean here drug-induced alterations in behavior that are not the result of the normal actions of synaptically released dopamine in the untreated animal. The conclusion of this endeavor is that pharmacological effects of dopaminergic drugs are variable in both males and females, independently of whether the drugs are administered systemically or intracerebrally. We conclude that the pharmacological data
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Jackowich, Robyn A; Pink, Leah; Gordon, Allan; Poirier, Évéline; Pukall, Caroline F
2018-04-01
Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) is an understudied condition characterized by unwanted physiologic genital arousal in the absence of subjective sexual arousal. Markos and Dinsmore (Int J STD AIDS 2013;24:852-858) theorized that PGAD shares a number of similarities with vulvodynia (unexplained chronic vulvar pain [CVP]), including symptom characteristics and comorbidities. To compare medical histories, symptom characteristics, pain characteristics, and daily functioning among women with persistent genital pain (PGA) (n = 42), painful PGA (n = 37), and CVP (n = 42) symptoms. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from October 2015 through April 2016. Self-report measures of symptoms, diagnosed medical conditions, pain characteristics (McGill Pain Questionnaire), catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale), and daily functioning (Functional Status Questionnaire) were collected. All 3 groups reported similar medical diagnoses and high frequencies of other chronic pelvic pain conditions. Women in all 3 groups reported comparable ages at symptom onset and timing of symptom expression (ie, constant vs intermittent). Women in the 2 PGA groups reported significantly greater feelings of helplessness than women in the CVP group. Women in the painful PGA and CVP groups endorsed significantly more sensory terms to describe their symptoms compared with women in the PGA group, whereas women in the painful PGA group reported significantly more affective terms to describe their symptoms compared with women in the CVP group. Women in the 2 PGA groups reported that their symptoms interfered significantly with most areas of daily functioning. Given the similarities between PGA and CVP symptoms, women with PGA may benefit from similar assessment, treatment, and research approaches. Limitations of the present study include its sole use of self-report measures; the presence of PGA or CVP symptoms was not confirmed by clinical assessment. However, the anonymous
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The polarizing effect of arousal on negotiation.
Brown, Ashley D; Curhan, Jared R
2013-10-01
In this research, we examined the impact of physiological arousal on negotiation outcomes. Conventional wisdom and the prescriptive literature suggest that arousal should be minimized given its negative effect on negotiations, whereas prior research on misattribution of arousal suggests that arousal might polarize outcomes, either negatively or positively. In two experiments, we manipulated arousal and measured its effect on subjective and objective negotiation outcomes. Our results support the polarization effect. When participants had negative prior attitudes toward negotiation, arousal had a detrimental effect on outcomes, whereas when participants had positive prior attitudes toward negotiation, arousal had a beneficial effect on outcomes. These effects occurred because of the construal of arousal as negative or positive affect, respectively. Our findings have important implications not only for negotiation, but also for research on misattribution of arousal, which previously has focused on the target of evaluation, in contrast to the current research, which focused on the critical role of the perceiver.
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Hernández-González, Marisela; Guevara, Miguel Angel; Agmo, Anders
2014-06-01
The neurobiological bases of human sexual behavior are only partly understood. The etiology of most human sexual dysfunctions is not understood at all. Nevertheless, substantial progress has been made in the treatment of some male sexual disorders. The prime example should be erectile deficiency, where several efficient and safe treatments are available. Pharmacological treatment for premature ejaculation is also available, although it is still in an early stage. Disorders of sexual desire have attracted much attention when women are affected but far less so when men are concerned. Whereas animal models appropriate for testing treatments for problems with erection and premature ejaculation are available, it is questionable whether such models of the desire disorders have predictive validity. There seems to be many factors involved both in reduced and enhanced sexual desire, most of which are unknown. In this review we present some data suggesting that an electroencephalographic analysis of brain activity during exposure to sexually relevant stimuli in male rats and men and during execution of sexual behaviors in male rats may provide useful information. The effects of a commonly used drug, ethanol, on the electroencephalogram recorded during sexual events in rats and men are also described. Although this approach to the analysis of the central nervous activity associated with sexual desire, arousal and behavior is still in its infancy, the data obtained so far show a remarkable similarity between men and rats. This suggests that animal studies of electroencephalographic responses to drugs in sexual contexts may be useful for predicting effects in the human male. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Meston, Cindy M.; Lorenz, Tierney A.
2012-01-01
Physiological responses to sexual stimuli may contribute to the increased rate of sexual problems seen in women with childhood sexual abuse (CSA) histories. We compared two physiological stress responses as predictors of sexual function and satisfaction, sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation and cortisol in women with (CSA, N = 136) and without CSA histories (NSA, N = 102). In CSA survivors, cortisol response to sexual stimuli did not significantly predict sexual functioning; however, i...
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Threat but not arousal narrows attention: Evidence from pupil dilation and saccade control
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Henk eVan Steenbergen
2011-10-01
Full Text Available It has been shown that negative affect causes attentional narrowing. According to Easterbrook’s (1959 influential hypothesis this effect is driven by the withdrawal motivation inherent to negative emotions and might be related to increases in arousal. We investigated whether valence-unspecific increases in physiological arousal, as measured by pupil dilation, could account for attentional narrowing effects in a cognitive control task. Following the presentation of a negative, positive, or neutral picture, participants performed a saccade task with a prosaccade versus an antisaccade instruction. The reaction time difference between pro- and antisaccades was used to index attentional selectivity, and while pupil diameter was used as an index of physiological arousal. Pupil dilation was observed for both negative and positive pictures, which indicates increased physiological arousal. However, increased attentional selectivity was only observed following negative pictures. Our data show that motivational intensity effects on attentional narrowing can occur independently of physiological arousal effects.
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Duncan, Michael J; Smith, Mike; Bryant, Elizabeth; Eyre, Emma; Cook, Kathryn; Hankey, Joanne; Tallis, Jason; Clarke, Neil; Jones, Marc V
2016-01-01
The aim of this study was to investigate if the effects of changes in physiological arousal on timing performance can be accurately predicted by the catastrophe model. Eighteen young adults (8 males, 10 females) volunteered to participate in the study following ethical approval. After familiarisation, coincidence anticipation was measured using the Bassin Anticipation Timer under four incremental exercise conditions: Increasing exercise intensity and low cognitive anxiety, increasing exercise intensity and high cognitive anxiety, decreasing exercise intensity and low cognitive anxiety and decreasing exercise intensity and high cognitive anxiety. Incremental exercise was performed on a treadmill at intensities of 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% heart rate reserve (HRR) respectively. Ratings of cognitive anxiety were taken at each intensity using the Mental Readiness Form 3 (MRF3) followed by performance of coincidence anticipation trials at speeds of 3 and 8 mph. Results indicated significant condition × intensity interactions for absolute error (AE; p = .0001) and MRF cognitive anxiety intensity scores (p = .05). Post hoc analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in AE across exercise intensities in low-cognitive anxiety conditions. In high-cognitive anxiety conditions, timing performance AE was significantly poorer and cognitive anxiety higher at 90% HRR, compared to the other exercise intensities. There was no difference in timing responses at 90% HRR during competitive trials, irrespective of whether exercise intensity was increasing or decreasing. This study suggests that anticipation timing performance is negatively affected when physiological arousal and cognitive anxiety are high.
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MacPherson, Megan K; Abur, Defne; Stepp, Cara E
2017-07-01
This study aimed to determine the relationship among cognitive load condition and measures of autonomic arousal and voice production in healthy adults. A prospective study design was conducted. Sixteen healthy young adults (eight men, eight women) produced a sentence containing an embedded Stroop task in each of two cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. In both conditions, participants said the font color of the color words instead of the word text. In the incongruent condition, font color differed from the word text, creating an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which font color and word text matched. Three physiologic measures of autonomic arousal (pulse volume amplitude, pulse period, and skin conductance response amplitude) and four acoustic measures of voice (sound pressure level, fundamental frequency, cepstral peak prominence, and low-to-high spectral energy ratio) were analyzed for eight sentence productions in each cognitive load condition per participant. A logistic regression model was constructed to predict the cognitive load condition (congruent or incongruent) using subject as a categorical predictor and the three autonomic measures and four acoustic measures as continuous predictors. It revealed that skin conductance response amplitude, cepstral peak prominence, and low-to-high spectral energy ratio were significantly associated with cognitive load condition. During speech produced under increased cognitive load, healthy young adults show changes in physiologic markers of heightened autonomic arousal and acoustic measures of voice quality. Future work is necessary to examine these measures in older adults and individuals with voice disorders. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Conelea, Christine A.; Ramanujam, Krishnapriya; Walther, Michael R.; Freeman, Jennifer B.; Garcia, Abbe M.
2014-01-01
Stress is the contextual variable most commonly implicated in tic exacerbations. However, research examining associations between tics, stressors, and the biological stress response has yielded mixed results. This study examined whether tics occur at a greater frequency during discrete periods of heightened physiological arousal. Children with co-occurring tic and anxiety disorders (n = 8) completed two stress induction tasks (discussion of family conflict, public speech). Observational (tic frequencies) and physiological (heart rate) data were synchronized using The Observer XT, and tic frequencies were compared across periods of high and low heart rate. Tic frequencies across the entire experiment did not increase during periods of higher heart rate. During the speech task, tic frequencies were significantly lower during periods of higher heart rate. Results suggest that tic exacerbations may not be associated with heightened physiological arousal and highlight the need for further tic research using integrated measurement of behavioral and biological processes. PMID:24662238
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Conelea, Christine A; Ramanujam, Krishnapriya; Walther, Michael R; Freeman, Jennifer B; Garcia, Abbe M
2014-03-01
Stress is the contextual variable most commonly implicated in tic exacerbations. However, research examining associations between tics, stressors, and the biological stress response has yielded mixed results. This study examined whether tics occur at a greater frequency during discrete periods of heightened physiological arousal. Children with co-occurring tic and anxiety disorders (n = 8) completed two stress-induction tasks (discussion of family conflict, public speech). Observational (tic frequencies) and physiological (heart rate [HR]) data were synchronized using The Observer XT, and tic frequencies were compared across periods of high and low HR. Tic frequencies across the entire experiment did not increase during periods of higher HR. During the speech task, tic frequencies were significantly lower during periods of higher HR. Results suggest that tic exacerbations may not be associated with heightened physiological arousal and highlight the need for further tic research using integrated measurement of behavioral and biological processes. © The Author(s) 2014.
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Peterson, Zoë D; Janssen, Erick; Goodrich, David; Heiman, Julia R
2014-01-01
Men's sexually aggressive behavior potentially could relate to either physiological hyporeactivity or hyperreactivity, and these two different physiological profiles could be associated with different underlying causes of sexual aggression. Thus, measurement of physiological reactivity could provide insight into mechanisms relevant to the etiology of sexual aggression. The relationship between sexual aggression and physiological reactivity was investigated in 78 community men (38 sexually aggressive and 40 non-aggressive men). In a laboratory protocol, the men were exposed to neutral, negative-affect-inducing, and positive-affect-inducing stimuli. Men's salivary cortisol concentrations and electrodermal activity (EDA) were measured throughout the laboratory procedure. Sexually aggressive men demonstrated (1) lower overall cortisol levels and (2) lower EDA reactivity in some conditions as compared to non-aggressive men. Results of this study were consistent with the idea that men's sexual aggression is associated with physiological hyporeactivity, a physiological profile that has been found to be associated with externalizing behaviors and psychopathic traits. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Sexual thoughts: links to testosterone and cortisol in men.
Goldey, Katherine L; van Anders, Sari M
2012-12-01
Sexual stimuli increase testosterone (T) or cortisol (C) in males of a variety of species, including humans, and just thinking about sex increases T in women. We investigated whether sexual thoughts change T or C in men and whether hormone measures (baseline, post-activity, and changes) correlate with psychological sexual arousal. We used the Imagined Social Situation Exercise to assess how hormones respond to and correlate with sexual thoughts and arousal relative to three control conditions: neutral, stressful, and positive. A total of 99 men provided a baseline saliva sample, imagined and wrote about a sexual or control situation, and provided a second saliva sample 15 min later. Results indicated that, for participants in the sexual condition, higher baseline and post-activity C corresponded to larger increases in self- reported sexual and autonomic arousal. Although sexual thoughts increased sexual arousal, they did not change T or C compared to control conditions. Our results suggest that sexual thoughts are not sufficient to change T or C in men, but C may facilitate sexual arousal by directing energy towards a sexual situation.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Olsen, Mads; Schneider, Logan Douglas; Cheung, Joseph
2018-01-01
The current definition of sleep arousals neglects to address the diversity of arousals and their systemic cohesion. Autonomic arousals (AA) are autonomic activations often associated with cortical arousals (CA), but they may also occur in isolation in relation to a respiratory event, a leg movement...... event or spontaneously, without any other physiological associations. AA should be acknowledged as essential events to understand and explore the systemic implications of arousals. We developed an automatic AA detection algorithm based on intelligent feature selection and advanced machine learning using...... or respiratory events. This indicates that most FP constitute autonomic activations that are indistinguishable from those with cortical cohesion. The proposed algorithm provides an automatic system trained in a clinical environment, which can be utilized to analyse the systemic and clinical impacts of arousals....
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Orri, Miguel; Abraham, Lucy; Giraldi, Annamaria
2013-01-01
Female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) is a condition that can affect women of all ages and have a significant negative impact on emotional well-being.......Female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) is a condition that can affect women of all ages and have a significant negative impact on emotional well-being....
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Arousal and consumer in-store behavior.
Groeppel-Klein, Andrea
2005-11-15
From a psychophysiological point of view, arousal is a fundamental feature of behavior. As reported in different empirical studies based on insights from theories of consumer behavior, store atmosphere should evoke phasic arousal reactions to attract consumers. Most of these empirical investigations used verbal scales to measure consumers' perceived phasic arousal at the point-of-sale (POS). However, the validity of verbal arousal measurement is questioned; self-reporting methods only allow a time-lagged measurement. Furthermore, the selection of inappropriate items to represent perceived arousal is criticized, and verbal reports require some form of cognitive evaluation of perceived arousal by the individual, who might (in a non-measurement condition) not even be aware of the arousal. By contrast, phasic electrodermal reaction (EDR) has proven to be the most appropriate and valid indicator for measuring arousal [W. Boucsein, Physiologische Grundlagen und Messmethoden der dermalen Aktivität. In: F. Rösler (Ed.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologie, Bereich Psychophysiologie, Band 1: Grundlagen and Methoden der Psychophysiologie, Kapitel, Vol. 7, Hogrefe, Göttingen, 2001, pp. 551-623] that could be relevant to behavior. EDR can be recorded simultaneously to the perception of stimuli. Furthermore, telemetric online device can be used, which enables physiological arousal measurement while participants can move freely through the store and perform the assigned task in the experiments. The present paper delivers insights on arousal theory and results from empirical studies using EDR to measure arousal at the POS.
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Video lottery: winning expectancies and arousal.
Ladouceur, Robert; Sévigny, Serge; Blaszczynski, Alexander; O'Connor, Kieron; Lavoie, Marc E
2003-06-01
This study investigates the effects of video lottery players' expectancies of winning on physiological and subjective arousal. Participants were assigned randomly to one of two experimental conditions: high and low winning expectancies. Participants played 100 video lottery games in a laboratory setting while physiological measures were recorded. Level of risk-taking was controlled. Participants were 34 occasional or regular video lottery players. They were assigned randomly into two groups of 17, with nine men and eight women in each group. The low-expectancy group played for fun, therefore expecting to win worthless credits, while the high-expectancy group played for real money. Players' experience, demographic variables and subjective arousal were assessed. Severity of problem gambling was measured with the South Oaks Gambling Screen. In order to measure arousal, the average heart rate was recorded across eight periods. Participants exposed to high as compared to low expectations experienced faster heart rate prior to and during the gambling session. According to self-reports, it is the expectancy of winning money that is exciting, not playing the game. Regardless of the level of risk-taking, expectancy of winning is a cognitive factor influencing levels of arousal. When playing for fun, gambling becomes significantly less stimulating than when playing for money.
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PTSD and Sexual Dysfunction in Men and Women.
Yehuda, Rachel; Lehrner, Amy; Rosenbaum, Talli Y
2015-05-01
Difficulties in sexual desire and function often occur in persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but many questions remain regarding the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of sexual problems in PTSD. The aim of this review was to present a model of sexual dysfunction in PTSD underpinned by an inability to regulate and redirect the physiological arousal needed for healthy sexual function away from aversive hyperarousal and intrusive memories. A literature review pertaining to PTSD and sexual function was conducted. Evidence for the comorbidity of sexual dysfunction and PTSD is presented, and biological and psychological mechanisms that may underlie this co-occurrence are proposed. This manuscript presents evidence of sexual dysfunction in conjunction with PTSD, and of the neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of PTSD and sexual function. Sexual dysfunction following trauma exposure may be mediated by PTSD-related biological, cognitive, and affective processes. The treatment of PTSD must include attention to sexual dysfunction and vice versa. © 2015 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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The Influence of Presession Factors in the Assessment of Deviant Arousal
Reyes, Jorge R.; Vollmer, Timothy R.; Hall, Astrid
2011-01-01
Three adult male sex offenders with developmental disabilities participated in an evaluation of presession factors that may influence levels of sexual arousal measured with a penile plethysmograph. We evaluated the effects of presession masturbation (1 participant) and arousal-suppression strategies (2 participants). Results showed that presession…
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Eliciting affect via immersive virtual reality: a tool for adolescent risk reduction.
Hadley, Wendy; Houck, Christopher D; Barker, David H; Garcia, Abbe Marrs; Spitalnick, Josh S; Curtis, Virginia; Roye, Scott; Brown, Larry K
2014-04-01
A virtual reality environment (VRE) was designed to expose participants to substance use and sexual risk-taking cues to examine the utility of VR in eliciting adolescent physiological arousal. 42 adolescents (55% male) with a mean age of 14.54 years (SD = 1.13) participated. Physiological arousal was examined through heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and self-reported somatic arousal. A within-subject design (neutral VRE, VR party, and neutral VRE) was utilized to examine changes in arousal. The VR party demonstrated an increase in physiological arousal relative to a neutral VRE. Examination of individual segments of the party (e.g., orientation, substance use, and sexual risk) demonstrated that HR was significantly elevated across all segments, whereas only the orientation and sexual risk segments demonstrated significant impact on RSA. This study provides preliminary evidence that VREs can be used to generate physiological arousal in response to substance use and sexual risk cues.
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Effects of music on arousal during imagery in elite shooters: A pilot study.
Kuan, Garry; Morris, Tony; Terry, Peter
2017-01-01
Beneficial effects of music on several performance-related aspects of sport have been reported, but the processes involved are not well understood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of relaxing and arousing classical music on physiological indicators and subjective perceptions of arousal during imagery of a sport task. First, appropriate music excerpts were selected. Then, 12 skilled shooters performed shooting imagery while listening to the three preselected music excerpts in randomized order. Participants' galvanic skin response, peripheral temperature, and electromyography were monitored during music played concurrently with imagery. Subjective music ratings and physiological measures showed, as hypothesized, that unfamiliar relaxing music was the most relaxing and unfamiliar arousing music was the most arousing. Researchers should examine the impact of unfamiliar relaxing and arousing music played during imagery on subsequent performance in diverse sports. Practitioners can apply unfamiliar relaxing and arousing music with imagery to manipulate arousal level.
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Higgs, Tamsin; Carter, Adam J; Stefanska, Ewa B; Glorney, Emily
2017-08-01
Establishing a model of sexual assault reflecting psychosocial and behavioral characteristics of perpetrators of sexual killing and rape is necessary for development in risk assessment and intervention. Methodological variations in defining sexual killing have amalgamated serial and non-serial offenders and perpetrators with direct and indirect associations between killing and sexual arousal. This study defined sexual killing specifying that killing should be directly linked to sexual arousal, and sampled 48 sexual killers, operationalized to include only those engaging in post-mortem sexual interference, with one or two known female victims (non-serial), from prison service national (England and Wales) databases. These sexual killers were compared with 48 non-homicide, life or indeterminately sentenced sexual aggressors on psychological and crime scene characteristics. Contrary to previous research, fatal outcomes were associated with neither stranger victims nor weapon presence; sexual killing was characterized by severity of violence less so than non-fatal assault. Sexual killers more often reported problems with emotional loneliness, empathic concern, and sexual entitlement than the sexual aggressors. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.
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Effects of music on arousal during imagery in elite shooters: A pilot study.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Garry Kuan
Full Text Available Beneficial effects of music on several performance-related aspects of sport have been reported, but the processes involved are not well understood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of relaxing and arousing classical music on physiological indicators and subjective perceptions of arousal during imagery of a sport task. First, appropriate music excerpts were selected. Then, 12 skilled shooters performed shooting imagery while listening to the three preselected music excerpts in randomized order. Participants' galvanic skin response, peripheral temperature, and electromyography were monitored during music played concurrently with imagery. Subjective music ratings and physiological measures showed, as hypothesized, that unfamiliar relaxing music was the most relaxing and unfamiliar arousing music was the most arousing. Researchers should examine the impact of unfamiliar relaxing and arousing music played during imagery on subsequent performance in diverse sports. Practitioners can apply unfamiliar relaxing and arousing music with imagery to manipulate arousal level.
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The biology of human sexuality: evolution, ecology and physiology
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
PW Bateman
2006-09-01
Full Text Available Many evolutionary biologists argue that human sexual behaviour can be studied in exactly the same way as that of other species. Many sociologists argue that social influences effectively obscure, and are more important than, a reductionist biological approach to human sexual behaviour. Here,we authors attempt to provide a broad introduction to human sexual behaviour from a biological standpoint and to indicate where the ambiguous areas are. We outline the evolutionary selective pressures that are likely to have influenced human behaviour and mate choice in the past and in the present; ecological features that influence such things as degree of parental care and polygamy; and the associated physiology of human sexuality. Then they end with a discussion of �abnormal� sexuality.
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Sex Attracts: Investigating Individual Differences in Attentional Bias to Sexual Stimuli
Kagerer, Sabine; Wehrum, Sina; Klucken, Tim; Walter, Bertram; Vaitl, Dieter; Stark, Rudolf
2014-01-01
We investigated the impact of sexual stimuli and the influence of sexual motivation on the performance in a dot-probe task and a line-orientation task in a large sample of males and females. All pictures (neutral, erotic) were rated on the dimensions of valence, arousal, disgust, and sexual arousal. Additionally, questionnaires measuring sexual interest/desire/motivation were employed. The ratings of the sexual stimuli point to a successful picture selection because sexual arousal did not differ between the sexes. The stimuli were equally arousing for men and women. Higher scores in the employed questionnaires measuring sexual interest/desire/motivation led to higher sexual arousal ratings of the sex pictures. Attentional bias towards sex pictures was observed in both experimental tasks. The attentional biases measured by the dot-probe and the line-orientation task were moderately intercorrelated suggesting attentional bias as a possible marker for a sex-attention trait. Finally, only the sexual sensation seeking score correlated with the attentional biases of the two tasks. Future research is needed to increase the predictive power of these indirect measures of sexual interest. PMID:25238545
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Hypnotherapy for persistent genital arousal disorder: a case study.
Elkins, Gary R; Ramsey, Derek; Yu, Yimin
2014-01-01
Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) is characterized by intrusive sexual arousal that is unresolvable via sexual activity and persists for an extended period of time. PGAD's etiology is unknown, and it has no established treatments. This case study reports on a 71-year-old female patient diagnosed with PGAD who received 9 sessions of hypnotherapy. The following measures were administered at baseline and follow-up: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and visual analogue measurements of quality of life, intensity of symptoms, and marital interference. At follow-up, there were significant improvements in all measures. Given the currently limited alternatives for treatment, this case study suggests that hypnotherapy may be beneficial for some patients with PGAD.
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Briggs, Kate E; Martin, Frances H
2009-06-01
There are two dominant theories of affective picture processing; one that attention is more deeply engaged by motivationally relevant stimuli (i.e., stimuli that activate both the appetitive and aversive systems), and two that attention is more deeply engaged by aversive stimuli described as the negativity bias. In order to identify the theory that can best account for affective picture processing, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 34 participants during a modified oddball paradigm in which levels of stimulus valence, arousal, and motivational relevance were systematically varied. Results were partially consistent with motivated attention models of emotional perception, as P3b amplitude was enhanced in response to highly arousing and motivationally relevant sexual and unpleasant stimuli compared to respective low arousing and less motivationally relevant stimuli. However P3b amplitudes were significantly larger in response to the highly arousing sexual stimuli compared to all other affective stimuli, which is not consistent with either dominant theory. The current study therefore highlights the need for a revised model of affective picture processing and provides a platform for further research investigating the independent effects of sexual arousal on cognitive processing.
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Meston, Cindy M; Lorenz, Tierney A
2013-07-01
Physiological responses to sexual stimuli may contribute to the increased rate of sexual problems seen in women with childhood sexual abuse (CSA) histories. We compared two physiological stress responses as predictors of sexual function and satisfaction, sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation and cortisol in women with (CSA, N = 136) and without CSA histories (NSA, N = 102). In CSA survivors, cortisol response to sexual stimuli did not significantly predict sexual functioning; however, in NSA women, cortisol increases were associated with poorer sexual functioning, and decreases with higher functioning. For women with CSA histories, lower SNS activity was associated with poorer sexual functioning. For CSA survivors with low lifetime trauma, lower SNS activity was associated with higher sexual satisfaction; for women with high lifetime trauma, the reverse was true. Decreased SNS activity during sexual stimuli predicted higher sexual functioning in NSA women with low lifetime exposure to traumatic events, but lower sexual functioning in those with high exposure. Differences between women with and without CSA histories in the association between cortisol and SNS response and sexual functioning and satisfaction suggests that CSA causes disruptions in both short and long-term stress responses to sexual stimuli that perpetuate into adulthood.
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... Overview Persistent, recurrent problems with sexual response, desire, orgasm or pain — that distress you or strain your ... You have persistent or recurrent difficulty in achieving orgasm after sufficient sexual arousal and ongoing stimulation. Sexual ...
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Sex attracts: investigating individual differences in attentional bias to sexual stimuli.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sabine Kagerer
Full Text Available We investigated the impact of sexual stimuli and the influence of sexual motivation on the performance in a dot-probe task and a line-orientation task in a large sample of males and females. All pictures (neutral, erotic were rated on the dimensions of valence, arousal, disgust, and sexual arousal. Additionally, questionnaires measuring sexual interest/desire/motivation were employed. The ratings of the sexual stimuli point to a successful picture selection because sexual arousal did not differ between the sexes. The stimuli were equally arousing for men and women. Higher scores in the employed questionnaires measuring sexual interest/desire/motivation led to higher sexual arousal ratings of the sex pictures. Attentional bias towards sex pictures was observed in both experimental tasks. The attentional biases measured by the dot-probe and the line-orientation task were moderately intercorrelated suggesting attentional bias as a possible marker for a sex-attention trait. Finally, only the sexual sensation seeking score correlated with the attentional biases of the two tasks. Future research is needed to increase the predictive power of these indirect measures of sexual interest.
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Role of Partner Novelty in Sexual Functioning: A Review.
Morton, Heather; Gorzalka, Boris B
2015-01-01
This review investigates whether sexual desire and arousal decline in response to partner familiarity, increase in response to partner novelty, and show differential responding in men and women. These questions were considered through the perspective of two leading evolutionary theories regarding human mating strategies: sexual strategies theory and attachment fertility theory. The hypotheses emerging from these theories were evaluated through a critical analysis of several areas of research including habituation of arousal to erotic stimuli, preferences regarding number of sexual partners, the effect of long-term monogamous relationships on sexual arousal and desire, and prevalence and risk factors associated with extradyadic behavior. The current literature best supports the predictions made by sexual strategies theory in that sexual functioning has evolved to promote short-term mating. Sexual arousal and desire appear to decrease in response to partner familiarity and increase in response to partner novelty in men and women. Evidence to date suggests this effect may be greater in men.
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Children’s Play as a Context for Managing Physiological Arousal and Learning Emotion Regulation
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Peter LaFreniere
2013-09-01
Full Text Available In this paper I examine children’s play as a context for managing physiological arousal and learning to regulate strong emotions. I define emotion regulation as the process by which children monitor and control their emotional states and their expression to adapt to different social situations or demands. Age trends and gender differences in emotion regulation problems and competencies are described. I then review the development of play, deprivation studies, and the biological functions of different forms of play in primates before discussing children’s play. Vigorous social play benefits children by promoting the development of communication, perspective-taking and emotion regulation skills. For boys especially, rough-and-tumble play in early childhood provides a scaffold for learning emotion regulation skills related to managing anger and aggression.
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Termination of respiratory events with and without cortical arousal in obstructive sleep apnea.
Jordan, Amy S; Eckert, Danny J; Wellman, Andrew; Trinder, John A; Malhotra, Atul; White, David P
2011-11-15
A total of 20-30% of respiratory events in obstructive sleep apnea are terminated without clear arousal. Arousals are thought to predispose to further events by promoting hyperventilation, hypocapnia, and upper-airway dilator muscle hypotonia. Therefore, events terminated without arousal may promote stable breathing. To compare physiologic changes at respiratory event termination with American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) Arousal to No Arousal, and determine whether secondary respiratory events are less common and have higher dilator muscle activity after No Arousal compared with ASDA Arousal. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea wore sleep staging, genioglossus (EMG(GG)), and tensor palatini (EMG(TP)) electrodes plus a nasal mask and pneumotachograph. During stable sleep, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was lowered for 3-minute periods to induce respiratory events. Physiologic variables were compared between events terminated with (1) ASDA Arousal, (2) No Arousal, or (3) sudden CPAP increase (CPAPinc, control). Sixteen subjects had adequate data. EMG(GG), EMG(TP), and heart rate increased after ASDA Arousal (340 ± 57%, 215 ± 28%, and 110.7 ± 2.3%) and No Arousal (185 ± 32%, 167 ± 15%, and 108.5 ± 1.6%) but not CPAPinc (90 ± 10%, 94 ± 11%, and 102.1 ± 1%). Ventilation increased more after ASDA Arousal than No Arousal and CPAPinc, but not after accounting for the severity of respiratory event. Fewer No Arousals were followed by secondary events than ASDA Arousals. However, low dilator muscle activity did not occur after ASDA Arousal or No Arousal (EMG(GG) rose from 75 ± 5 to 125 ± 7%) and secondary events were less severe than initial events (ventilation rose 4 ± 0.4 to 5.5 ± 0.51 L/min). Respiratory events that were terminated with ASDA Arousal were more severely flow-limited, had enhanced hyperventilation after event termination, and were more often followed by secondary events than No arousal. However, secondary events were not
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CAP, epilepsy and motor events during sleep: the unifying role of arousal.
Parrino, Liborio; Halasz, Peter; Tassinari, Carlo Alberto; Terzano, Mario Giovanni
2006-08-01
Arousal systems play a topical neurophysiologic role in protecting and tailoring sleep duration and depth. When they appear in NREM sleep, arousal responses are not limited to a single EEG pattern but are part of a continuous spectrum of EEG modifications ranging from high-voltage slow rhythms to low amplitude fast activities. The hierarchic features of arousal responses are reflected in the phase A subtypes of CAP (cyclic alternating pattern) including both slow arousals (dominated by the ASDA arousals). CAP is an infraslow oscillation with a periodicity of 20-40s that participates in the dynamic organization of sleep and in the activation of motor events. Physiologic, paraphysiologic and pathologic motor activities during NREM sleep are always associated with a stereotyped arousal pattern characterized by an initial increase in EEG delta power and heart rate, followed by a progressive activation of faster EEG frequencies. These findings suggest that motor patterns are already written in the brain codes (central pattern generators) embraced with an automatic sequence of EEG-vegetative events, but require a certain degree of activation (arousal) to become visibly apparent. Arousal can appear either spontaneously or be elicited by internal (epileptic burst) or external (noise, respiratory disturbance) stimuli. Whether the outcome is a physiologic movement, a muscle jerk or a major epileptic attack will depend on a number of ongoing factors (sleep stage, delta power, neuro-motor network) but all events share the common trait of arousal-activated phenomena.
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The effect of exercise-induced arousal on chosen tempi for familiar melodies.
Jakubowski, Kelly; Halpern, Andrea R; Grierson, Mick; Stewart, Lauren
2015-04-01
Many previous studies have shown that arousal affects time perception, suggesting a direct influence of arousal on the speed of the pacemaker of the internal clock. However, it is unknown whether arousal influences the mental representation of tempo (speed) for highly familiar and complex stimuli, such as well-known melodies, that have long-term representations in memory. Previous research suggests that mental representations of the tempo of familiar melodies are stable over time; the aim of the present study was to investigate whether these representations can be systematically altered via an increase in physiological arousal. Participants adjusted the tempo of 14 familiar melodies in real time until they found a tempo that matched their internal representation of the appropriate tempo for that piece. The task was carried out before and after a physiologically arousing (exercise) or nonarousing (anagrams) manipulation. Participants completed this task both while hearing the melodies aloud and while imagining them. Chosen tempi increased significantly following exercise-induced arousal, regardless of whether a melody was heard aloud or imagined. These findings suggest that a change in internal clock speed affects temporal judgments even for highly familiar and complex stimuli such as music.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chiara Borghi
2017-03-01
Full Text Available Female Sexual Disorders (FSD include a complex, multidimensional, individual experience that can change as an individual age, suggesting that these problems are caused by multiple factors including psychosocial factors, personal relationships, pathologic changes caused by diseases, and pharmacologic influences. Menopause is an important time for middle aged women and postmenopausal physiological changes could have a significant role in the development of FSD. Few is still known about their correct definition and treatment. Their incidence, prevalence and risk factors are difficult to define because of a high level of overlap in the experience of problems with desire, arousal, and orgasm. Little evidences are known about the best therapeutic approach, and both non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment options have been described. Among these, phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors could be an effective option for many subtypes of female sexual disorders, with an improvement in different aspects of sexual function, such as desire, arousal, orgasm and sexual satisfaction. In this paper authors reviewed what is already known about the use of these vasoactive agents, particularly tadalafil, as a treatment option for female sexual disturbances.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yang, Jong Chul
2004-01-01
To demonstrate the functional neuroanatomy associated with sexual arousal visually evoked in depressed males who have underlying sexual dysfunction using Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent-based fMRI. Ten healthy volunteers (age range 21-55: mean 32.5 years), and 10 depressed subjects (age range 23-51: mean 34.4 years, mean Beck Depression Inventory score of 39.6 ± 5.9, mean Hamilton Rating Scale Depression (HAMD)-17 score of 33.5 ± 6.0) with sexual arousal dysfunction viewed erotic and neutral video films during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 1.5 T MR scanner (GE Signa Horizon). The fMRI data were obtained from 7 oblique planes using gradient-echo EPI (flip angle/TR/TE=90 .deg. /6000 ms/50 ms). The visual stimulation paradigm began with 60 sec of black screen, 150 sec of neutral stimulation with a documentary video film, 30 sec of black screen, 150 sec of sexual stimulation with an erotic video film followed by 30 sec of black screen. The brain activation maps and their quantification were analyzed by SPM99 program. There was a significant difference of brain activation between two groups during visual sexual stimulation. In depressed subjects, the level of activation during the visually evoked sexual arousal was significantly less than that of healthy volunteers, especially in the cerebrocortical areas of the hypothalamus, thalamus, caudate nucleus, and inferior and superior temporal gyri. On the other hand, the cerebral activation patterns during the neutral condition in both groups showed no significant differences (ρ < 0.01). This study is the first demonstration of the functional neuroanatomy of the brain associated with sexual dysfunction in depressed patients using fMRI. In order to validate our physiological neuroscience results, further studies that would include patients with other disorders and sexual dysfunction, and depressed patients without sexual dysfunction and their treatment response are needed
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Yang, Jong Chul [Chonnam National Univ. Hospital, Kwangju (Korea, Republic of)
2004-06-15
To demonstrate the functional neuroanatomy associated with sexual arousal visually evoked in depressed males who have underlying sexual dysfunction using Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent-based fMRI. Ten healthy volunteers (age range 21-55: mean 32.5 years), and 10 depressed subjects (age range 23-51: mean 34.4 years, mean Beck Depression Inventory score of 39.6 {+-} 5.9, mean Hamilton Rating Scale Depression (HAMD)-17 score of 33.5 {+-} 6.0) with sexual arousal dysfunction viewed erotic and neutral video films during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 1.5 T MR scanner (GE Signa Horizon). The fMRI data were obtained from 7 oblique planes using gradient-echo EPI (flip angle/TR/TE=90 .deg. /6000 ms/50 ms). The visual stimulation paradigm began with 60 sec of black screen, 150 sec of neutral stimulation with a documentary video film, 30 sec of black screen, 150 sec of sexual stimulation with an erotic video film followed by 30 sec of black screen. The brain activation maps and their quantification were analyzed by SPM99 program. There was a significant difference of brain activation between two groups during visual sexual stimulation. In depressed subjects, the level of activation during the visually evoked sexual arousal was significantly less than that of healthy volunteers, especially in the cerebrocortical areas of the hypothalamus, thalamus, caudate nucleus, and inferior and superior temporal gyri. On the other hand, the cerebral activation patterns during the neutral condition in both groups showed no significant differences ({rho} < 0.01). This study is the first demonstration of the functional neuroanatomy of the brain associated with sexual dysfunction in depressed patients using fMRI. In order to validate our physiological neuroscience results, further studies that would include patients with other disorders and sexual dysfunction, and depressed patients without sexual dysfunction and their treatment response are needed.
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The motivation behind serial sexual homicide: is it sex, power, and control, or anger?
Myers, Wade C; Husted, David S; Safarik, Mark E; O'Toole, Mary Ellen
2006-07-01
Controversy exists in the literature and society regarding what motivates serial sexual killers to commit their crimes. Hypotheses range from the seeking of sexual gratification to the achievement of power and control to the expression of anger. The authors provide theoretical, empirical, evolutionary, and physiological support for the argument that serial sexual murderers above all commit their crimes in pursuit of sadistic pleasure. The seeking of power and control over victims is believed to serve the two secondary purposes of heightening sexual arousal and ensuring victim presence for the crime. Anger is not considered a key component of these offenders' motivation due to its inhibitory physiological effect on sexual functioning. On the contrary, criminal investigations into serial sexual killings consistently reveal erotically charged crimes, with sexual motivation expressed either overtly or symbolically. Although anger may be correlated with serial sexual homicide offenders, as it is with criminal offenders in general, it is not causative. The authors further believe serial sexual murderers should be considered sex offenders. A significant proportion of them appear to have paraphilic disorders within the spectrum of sexual sadism. "sexual sadism, homicidal type" is proposed as a diagnostic subtype of sexual sadism applicable to many of these offenders, and a suggested modification of DSM criteria is presented.
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van Overveld, Mark; de Jong, Peter J.; Peters, Madelon L.; van Lankveld, Jacques; Melles, Reinhilde; ter Kuile, Moniek M.
Introduction. Disgust may be involved in sexual problems by disrupting sexual arousal and motivating avoidance of sexual intercourse. To test whether heightened disgust for sexual contaminants is related to sexual dysfunctions, the Sexual Disgust Questionnaire (SDQ) has recently been developed.
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Renaud, Patrice; Goyette, Mathieu; Chartier, Sylvain; Zhornitski, Simon; Trottier, Dominique; Rouleau, Joanne-L; Proulx, Jean; Fedoroff, Paul; Bradford, John-P; Dassylva, Benoit; Bouchard, Stephane
2010-10-01
Sexual arousal and gaze behavior dynamics are used to characterize deviant sexual interests in male subjects. Pedophile patients and non-deviant subjects are immersed with virtual characters depicting relevant sexual features. Gaze behavior dynamics as indexed from correlation dimensions (D2) appears to be fractal in nature and significantly different from colored noise (surrogate data tests and recurrence plot analyses were performed). This perceptual-motor fractal dynamics parallels sexual arousal and differs from pedophiles to non-deviant subjects when critical sexual information is processed. Results are interpreted in terms of sexual affordance, perceptual invariance extraction and intentional nonlinear dynamics.
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The Role of Ovarian Hormones and the Medial Amygdala in Sexual Motivation.
Holder, Mary K; Mong, Jessica A
2017-12-01
Although research into the neurobiology of sexual desire in women is active, relatively little is understood about the origins of sexual motivation in women. The purpose of our review is to discuss factors that influence a central sexual motivate state and generalized arousal as potential drivers of sexual motivation in women and female rats. Sexual motivation is the product of interactions of the central motive state and salient sexually-relevant cues. Ovarian hormones and generalized arousal influence the central motive state, and endogenous levels of estradiol and progesterone correlate with sexual motivation and behavior in women. The amygdala is a key integratory site for generalized arousal and sexual sensory stimulation, which could then increase sexual motivation through its downstream projections. Our model of enhanced female sexual motivation suggests that the combined effects of dopamine and progesterone receptor activation in the medial amygdala increases the incentive properties of a sexual stimulus. Further study into the interactions of ovarian hormones and mediators of generalized arousal on the processing of sexually-relevant cues informs our understanding of the neurobiology of female sexual motivation and could lead to the development of therapeutics to treat the dysfunctions of sexual desire in women.
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The acute effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on endocrine and sexual function in males.
Burri, Andrea; Heinrichs, Markus; Schedlowski, Manfred; Kruger, Tillmann H C
2008-06-01
The role of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) ranges from the modulation of neuroendocrine physiological effects to the establishment of complex social and bonding behaviours. Experimental studies in animals, as well as case reports in humans, suggest that OT affects different aspects of sexual behaviour and has predominantly facilitating properties for sexual appetence and performance. Using a previously established experimental paradigm of sexual arousal and masturbation-induced orgasm, this study investigated the acute effects of intranasal OT application (24I.U.) on endocrine parameters and measures of sexual appetence and function in healthy men (n=10). In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, balanced cross-over design, sexual arousal, and orgasm were induced by an erotic film and masturbation. In addition to the continuous recording of endocrine (OT, cortisol, prolactin, epinephrine, norepinephrine) and cardiovascular data (heart rate), parameters of appetitive, consummatory, and refractory sexual behaviour were assessed using the acute sexual experience scale (ASES). OT plasma levels were significantly elevated after intranasal OT throughout the whole experiment (>60 min). In addition, OT treatment induced significantly higher increases in epinephrine plasma levels during sexual activity without affecting cortisol levels, prolactin levels or heart rate. OT treatment did not alter appetitive, consummatory, and refractory sexual behaviour according to the ASES. However, when subjects were asked about their subjective perception of whether OT or placebo had been applied, eight out of 10 subjects in the OT group answered correctly, thus pointing to an altered perception of arousal. In conclusion, intranasally administered OT leads to a marked increase in OT plasma levels together with increased secretion of catecholamines when subjects are engaged in sexual activity in a laboratory setting. As the effects of OT on sexual behaviour were equivocal, future studies
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The impact of childbirth on female sexuality
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Isabel Leal
Full Text Available Objective: To compare variables related to sexual functioning, namely: sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, pain, sexual satisfaction and sexual function in women during the pregnancy and 3 months after delivery. Methods: This is an exploratory and descriptive, quantitative study. A non-probability, convenience sample of 62 women in the first stage, and of 52 women in the second stage, was used. The two groups were not significantly different regarding socio-demographic aspects. The main outcome measures used were the female sexual function as assessed by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI and a Socio-demographic and Clinical Questionnaire. Results: The women presented higher mean levels of sexual satisfaction after birth, than during the pregnancy presenting statistically significant differences. Also they had lower mean levels of sexual desire, sexual arousal and vaginal lubrication after delivery. Regarding the orgasm, they presented higher mean levels in the postpartum period. The overall sexual function after childbirth did not present significant differences when comparing the pregnancy period to the postpartum, but presented higher mean levels during the pregnancy. Pain levels were higher during the pregnancy. Conclusion: We found no significant differences between the two groups, in most of the studied variables. However, Sexual Arousal and Sexual Satisfaction presented statistically significant differences.
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Memory enhancement by a semantically unrelated emotional arousal source induced after learning.
Nielson, Kristy A; Yee, Douglas; Erickson, Kirk I
2005-07-01
It has been well established that moderate physiological or emotional arousal modulates memory. However, there is some controversy about whether the source of arousal must be semantically related to the information to be remembered. To test this idea, 35 healthy young adult participants learned a list of common nouns and afterward viewed a semantically unrelated, neutral or emotionally arousing videotape. The tape was shown after learning to prevent arousal effects on encoding or attention, instead influencing memory consolidation. Heart rate increase was significantly greater in the arousal group, and negative affect was significantly less reported in the non-arousal group after the video. The arousal group remembered significantly more words than the non-arousal group at both 30 min and 24 h delays, despite comparable group memory performance prior to the arousal manipulation. These results demonstrate that emotional arousal, even from an unrelated source, is capable of modulating memory consolidation. Potential reasons for contradictory findings in some previous studies, such as the timing of "delayed" memory tests, are discussed.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Choi, Nam Gil; Han, Jae Bok; Jang, Seong Joo
2009-01-01
This study was performed not only to compare the brain activation regions associated with sexual arousal induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture, but also to evaluate its differential neuro-anatomical mechanism in healthy women using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 Tesla (T). A total of 21 healthy right-handed female volunteers (mean age 22 years, range 19 to 32) underwent fMRI on a 3T MR scanner. The stimulation paradigm for sexual arousal consisted of two alternating periods of rest and activation. It began with a 1-minute rest period, 3 minutes of stimulation with either of an erotic video film or SP6 acupuncture, followed by 1-minute rest. In addition, a comparative study on the brain activation patterns between an acupoint and a shampoint nearby GB37 was performed. The fMRI data were obtained from 20 slices parallel to the AC-PC line on an axial plane, giving a total of 2,000 images. The mean activation maps were constructed and analyzed by using the statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) software. As comparison with the shampoint, the acupoint showed 5 times and 2 times higher activities in the neocortex and limbic system, respectively. Note that brain activation in response to stimulation with the shampoint was not observed in the regions including the HTHL in the diencephalon, GLO and AMYG in the basal ganglia, and SMG in the parietal lobe. In the comparative study of visual stimulation vs. SP6 acupuncture, the mean activation ratio of stimulus was not significantly different to each other in both the neocortex and the limbic system (p < 0.05). The mean activities induced by both stimuli were not significantly different in the neocortex, whereas the acupunctural stimulation showed higher activity in the limbic system (p < 0.05). This study compared the differential brain activation patterns and the neural mechanisms for sexual arousal, which were induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture by using 3T fMRI. These findings
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Choi, Nam Gil [Dept. of Radiology, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Han, Jae Bok; Jang, Seong Joo [Dept. of Radiology, Dongshin University, Naju (Korea, Republic of)
2009-06-15
This study was performed not only to compare the brain activation regions associated with sexual arousal induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture, but also to evaluate its differential neuro-anatomical mechanism in healthy women using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 Tesla (T). A total of 21 healthy right-handed female volunteers (mean age 22 years, range 19 to 32) underwent fMRI on a 3T MR scanner. The stimulation paradigm for sexual arousal consisted of two alternating periods of rest and activation. It began with a 1-minute rest period, 3 minutes of stimulation with either of an erotic video film or SP6 acupuncture, followed by 1-minute rest. In addition, a comparative study on the brain activation patterns between an acupoint and a shampoint nearby GB37 was performed. The fMRI data were obtained from 20 slices parallel to the AC-PC line on an axial plane, giving a total of 2,000 images. The mean activation maps were constructed and analyzed by using the statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) software. As comparison with the shampoint, the acupoint showed 5 times and 2 times higher activities in the neocortex and limbic system, respectively. Note that brain activation in response to stimulation with the shampoint was not observed in the regions including the HTHL in the diencephalon, GLO and AMYG in the basal ganglia, and SMG in the parietal lobe. In the comparative study of visual stimulation vs. SP6 acupuncture, the mean activation ratio of stimulus was not significantly different to each other in both the neocortex and the limbic system (p < 0.05). The mean activities induced by both stimuli were not significantly different in the neocortex, whereas the acupunctural stimulation showed higher activity in the limbic system (p < 0.05). This study compared the differential brain activation patterns and the neural mechanisms for sexual arousal, which were induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture by using 3T fMRI. These findings
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Mixed Emotions: An Incentive Motivational Model of Sexual Deviance.
Smid, Wineke J; Wever, Edwin C
2018-05-01
Sexual offending behavior is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. Most existing etiological models describe sexual offending behavior as a variant of offending behavior and mostly include factors referring to disinhibition and sexual deviance. In this article, we argue that there is additional value in describing sexual offending behavior as sexual behavior in terms of an incentive model of sexual motivation. The model describes sexual arousal as an emotion, triggered by a competent stimulus signaling potential reward, and comparable to other emotions coupled with strong bodily reactions. Consequently, we describe sexual offending behavior in terms of this new model with emphasis on the development of deviant sexual interests and preferences. Summarized, the model states that because sexual arousal itself is an emotion, there is a bidirectional relationship between sexual self-regulation and emotional self-regulation. Not only can sex be used to regulate emotional states (i.e., sexual coping), emotions can also be used, consciously or automatically, to regulate sexual arousal (i.e., sexual deviance). Preliminary support for the model is drawn from studies in the field of sex offender research as well as sexology and motivation research.
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Arousal from sleep: implications for obstructive sleep apnea pathogenesis and treatment.
Eckert, Danny J; Younes, Magdy K
2014-02-01
Historically, brief awakenings from sleep (cortical arousals) have been assumed to be vitally important in restoring airflow and blood-gas disturbances at the end of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) breathing events. Indeed, in patients with blunted chemical drive (e.g., obesity hypoventilation syndrome) and in instances when other defensive mechanisms fail, cortical arousal likely serves an important protective role. However, recent insight into the pathogenesis of OSA indicates that a substantial proportion of respiratory events do not terminate with a cortical arousal from sleep. In many cases, cortical arousals may actually perpetuate blood-gas disturbances, breathing instability, and subsequent upper airway closure during sleep. This brief review summarizes the current understanding of the mechanisms mediating respiratory-induced cortical arousal, the physiological factors that influence the propensity for cortical arousal, and the potential dual roles that cortical arousal may play in OSA pathogenesis. Finally, the extent to which existing sedative agents decrease the propensity for cortical arousal and their potential to be therapeutically beneficial for certain OSA patients are highlighted.
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... increase arousal? • What can help me have an orgasm? • How can I minimize sexual pain? • How can ... difficulties. What are orgasmic problems? Not having an orgasm during sexual activity may not be a problem. ...
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Resting-state functional connectivity differentiates anxious apprehension and anxious arousal.
Burdwood, Erin N; Infantolino, Zachary P; Crocker, Laura D; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Banich, Marie T; Miller, Gregory A; Heller, Wendy
2016-10-01
Brain regions in the default mode network (DMN) display greater functional connectivity at rest or during self-referential processing than during goal-directed tasks. The present study assessed resting-state connectivity as a function of anxious apprehension and anxious arousal, independent of depressive symptoms, in order to understand how these dimensions disrupt cognition. Whole-brain, seed-based analyses indicated differences between anxious apprehension and anxious arousal in DMN functional connectivity. Lower connectivity associated with higher anxious apprehension suggests decreased adaptive, inner-focused thought processes, whereas higher connectivity at higher levels of anxious arousal may reflect elevated monitoring of physiological responses to threat. These findings further the conceptualization of anxious apprehension and anxious arousal as distinct psychological dimensions with distinct neural instantiations. © 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
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Epidural electrocorticography for monitoring of arousal in locked-in state
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alireza eGharabaghi
2014-10-01
Full Text Available Electroencephalography often fails to assess both the level (i.e. arousal and the content (i.e. awareness of pathologically altered consciousness in patients without motor responsiveness. This might be related to a decline of awareness, to episodes of low arousal and disturbed sleep patterns, and/or to distorting and attenuating effects of the skull and intermediate tissue on the recorded brain signals. Novel approaches are required to overcome these limitations.We introduced epidural electrocorticography (ECoG for monitoring of cortical physiology in a late-stage amytrophic lateral sclerosis patient in completely locked-in state. Despite long-term application for a period of six months, no implant-related complications occurred. Recordings from the left frontal cortex were sufficient to identify three arousal states. Spectral analysis of the intrinsic oscillatory activity enabled us to extract state-dependent dominant frequencies at < 4, ~ 7 and ~ 20 Hz, representing sleep-like periods, and phases of low and elevated arousal, respectively. In the absence of other biomarkers, ECoG proved to be a reliable tool for monitoring circadian rhythmicity, i.e. avoiding interference with the patient when he was sleeping and exploiting time windows of responsiveness. Moreover, the effects of interventions addressing the patient’s arousal, e.g. amantadine medication, could be evaluated objectively on the basis of physiological markers, even in the absence of behavioral parameters.Epidural ECoG constitutes a feasible trade-off between surgical risk and quality of recorded brain signals to gain information on the patient’s present level of arousal. This approach enables us to optimize the timing of interactions and medical interventions, all of which should take place when the patient is in a phase of high arousal. Furthermore, avoiding low-responsiveness periods will facilitate measures to implement alternative communication pathways involving brain
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The scoring of arousal in sleep: reliability, validity, and alternatives.
Bonnet, Michael H; Doghramji, Karl; Roehrs, Timothy; Stepanski, Edward J; Sheldon, Stephen H; Walters, Arthur S; Wise, Merrill; Chesson, Andrew L
2007-03-15
The reliability and validity of EEG arousals and other types of arousal are reviewed. Brief arousals during sleep had been observed for many years, but the evolution of sleep medicine in the 1980s directed new attention to these events. Early studies at that time in animals and humans linked brief EEG arousals and associated fragmentation of sleep to daytime sleepiness and degraded performance. Increasing interest in scoring of EEG arousals led the ASDA to publish a scoring manual in 1992. The current review summarizes numerous studies that have examined scoring reliability for these EEG arousals. Validity of EEG arousals was explored by review of studies that empirically varied arousals and found deficits similar to those found after total sleep deprivation depending upon the rate and extent of sleep fragmentation. Additional data from patients with clinical sleep disorders prior to and after effective treatment has also shown a continuing relationship between reduction in pathology-related arousals and improved sleep and daytime function. Finally, many suggestions have been made to refine arousal scoring to include additional elements (e.g., CAP), change the time frame, or focus on other physiological responses such as heart rate or blood pressure changes. Evidence to support the reliability and validity of these measures is presented. It was concluded that the scoring of EEG arousals has added much to our understanding of the sleep process but that significant work on the neurophysiology of arousal needs to be done. Additional refinement of arousal scoring will provide improved insight into sleep pathology and recovery.
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The relationship between overactive bladder and sexual activity in women
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Patel Ankur S.
2006-01-01
Full Text Available PURPOSE: We assessed the relationships between bladder symptoms, demographic, and medical history variables and sexual dysfunction in women with overactive bladder (OAB disorder. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight women diagnosed with OAB completed self-administered questionnaires related to overall heath status, bladder function, and sexual function. Data were compiled for questionnaire responses, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine predictors of sexual dysfunction. RESULTS: Bothersome bladder symptoms were reported by superscript three 60% of the sample. Sixty-percent of the sample was sexually active in the past month. Difficulty with sexual arousal, orgasm, and sexual enjoyment were reported by about 25% of the women. Sexual partner status was the best predictor of sexual arousal, orgasm, and sexual enjoyment. Menopausal status emerged as an important predictor of arousal and sexual enjoyment. CONCLUSION: The majority of women with symptoms of OAB viewed these symptoms as bothersome. However, the extent of symptom bother did not predict aspects of female sexual dysfunction (FSD. Instead, menopausal and partner status emerged as the best predictors of FSD in our sample.
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Dunlop, Boadie W; Hill, Eric; Johnson, Benjamin N; Klein, Daniel N; Gelenberg, Alan J; Rothbaum, Barbara O; Thase, Michael E; Kocsis, James H
2015-03-01
Sexual dysfunction is common among depressed adults. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and depressive symptomology are among the risk factors for sexual dysfunction, and these factors may interact to predict adult relationship functioning. Several models have been developed postulating interactions between these variables. We tested models of the effects of CSA and elucidate the associations between CSA, sexual dysfunction, depression severity, anxiety, and relationship quality in chronically depressed adults. Baseline data from 808 chronically depressed outpatients enrolled in the Research Evaluating the Value of Augmenting Medication with Psychotherapy study were evaluated using structural equation modeling. The Inventory of Depressive Symptomology, self-report version (IDS-SR) assessed depression severity, and the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire Anxious Arousal subscale assessed anxiety. Sexual function was assessed with the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX), and the Quality of Marriage Index (QMI) assessed relationship quality for patients in stable relationships. CSA scores predicted depression severity on the IDS-SR, as well as lower relationship quality and sexual satisfaction. ASEX scores were significantly associated with depression severity but were not correlated with the QMI. Two models were evaluated to elucidate these associations, revealing that (i) depression severity and anxious arousal mediated the relationship between CSA and adult sexual function, (ii) anxious arousal and sexual functioning mediated the association between CSA and depression symptoms, and (iii) when these models were combined, anxious arousal emerged as the most important mediator of CSA on depression which, in turn, mediated associations with adult sexual satisfaction and relationship quality. Although CSA predicts lower relationship and sexual satisfaction among depressed adults, the long-term effects of CSA appear to be mediated by depressive and anxious symptoms. It
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Harris, Emily Ann; Thai, Michael; Barlow, Fiona Kate
2017-01-01
The present study examined the effects of reading submission- and dominance-themed erotica on attitudes toward women and rape, ideal partner preferences, and subjective sexual arousal. Heterosexual male (n = 241) and female (n = 240) participants read one of three erotic stories depicting male dominance, female dominance, or no dominance, or a fourth nonerotic control story. First, we found that after reading about a sexually dominant man, women reported increased benevolent sexism compared to men, and men reported increased rape myth acceptance compared to women. Second, men and women showed a similar level of preference for partner dominance after reading about a sexually dominant woman. This was in contrast to the typical pattern revealed in all other conditions, whereby women were more likely to favor dominant partners relative to men. Finally, we found no evidence to support the hypothesis that the story describing male dominance would be the most arousing. Rather, all three erotic stories were equally sexually arousing compared to the control condition, and men and women did not differ in the extent to which the erotic stories aroused them. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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Oliveira, Cátia; Laja, Pedro; Carvalho, Joana; Quinta Gomes, Ana; Vilarinho, Sandra; Janssen, Erick; Nobre, Pedro J
2014-11-01
Both emotions and cognitions seem to play a role in determining sexual arousal. However, no studies to date have tested the effects of self-reported thoughts on subjective sexual arousal and genital response using psychophysiological methods. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of self-reported thoughts and affect during exposure to erotic material in predicting subjective and genital responses in sexually healthy men. Twenty-seven men were presented with two explicit films, and genital responses, subjective sexual arousal, self-reported thoughts, and positive and negative affect were assessed. Men's genital responses, subjective sexual arousal, affective responses, and self-reported thoughts during exposure to sexual stimulus were measured. Regression analyses revealed that genital responses were predicted by self-reported thoughts (explaining 20% of the variance) but not by affect during exposure to erotic films. On the other hand, subjective sexual arousal was significantly predicted by both positive and negative affect (explaining 18% of the variance) and self-reported thoughts (explaining 37% of the variance). Follow-up analyses using the single predictors showed that "sexual arousal thoughts" were the only significant predictor of subjective response (β = 0.64; P < 0.01) and that "distracting/disengaging thoughts" were the best predictor of genital response (β = -0.51; P < 0.05). The findings of this study suggest that both affect and sexual arousal thoughts play an important role in men's subjective sexual response, whereas genital response seems to be better predicted by distracting thoughts. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Sympathetic arousal increases a negative memory bias in young women with low sex hormone levels
Nielsen, Shawn E.; Barber, Sarah J.; Chai, Audrey; Clewett, David V.; Mather, Mara
2015-01-01
Emotionally arousing events are typically better attended to and remembered than neutral ones. Current theories propose that arousal-induced increases in norepinephrine during encoding bias attention and memory in favor of affectively salient stimuli. Here, we tested this hypothesis by manipulating levels of physiological arousal prior to encoding and examining how it influenced memory for emotionally salient images, particularly those that are negative rather than positive in valence. We also tested whether sex steroid hormones interact with noradrenergic activity to influence these emotional memory biases in women. Healthy naturally cycling women and women on hormonal contraception completed one of the following physiological arousal manipulations prior to viewing a series of negative, positive and neutral images: 1) Immediate handgrip arousal – isometric handgrip immediately prior to encoding, 2) Residual handgrip arousal – isometric handgrip 15 min prior to encoding, or 3) No handgrip. Sympathetic arousal was measured throughout the session via pupil diameter changes. Levels of 17β-estradiol and progesterone were measured via salivary samples. Memory performance was assessed approximately 10 minutes after encoding using a surprise free recall test. The results indicated that handgrip successfully increased sympathetic arousal compared to the control task. Under immediate handgrip arousal, women showed enhanced memory for negative images over positive images; this pattern was not observed in women assigned to the residual and no-handgrip arousal conditions. Additionally, under immediate handgrip arousal, both high estradiol and progesterone levels attenuated the memory bias for negative over positive images. Follow-up hierarchical linear models revealed consistent effects when accounting for trial-by-trial variability in normative International Affective Picture System valence and arousal ratings. These findings suggest that heightened sympathetic arousal
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FeldmanHall, Oriel; Glimcher, Paul; Baker, Augustus L; Phelps, Elizabeth A
2016-10-01
Uncertainty, which is ubiquitous in decision-making, can be fractionated into known probabilities (risk) and unknown probabilities (ambiguity). Although research has illustrated that individuals more often avoid decisions associated with ambiguity compared to risk, it remains unclear why ambiguity is perceived as more aversive. Here we examine the role of arousal in shaping the representation of value and subsequent choice under risky and ambiguous decisions. To investigate the relationship between arousal and decisions of uncertainty, we measure skin conductance response-a quantifiable measure reflecting sympathetic nervous system arousal-during choices to gamble under risk and ambiguity. To quantify the discrete influences of risk and ambiguity sensitivity and the subjective value of each option under consideration, we model fluctuating uncertainty, as well as the amount of money that can be gained by taking the gamble. Results reveal that although arousal tracks the subjective value of a lottery regardless of uncertainty type, arousal differentially contributes to the computation of value-that is, choice-depending on whether the uncertainty is risky or ambiguous: Enhanced arousal adaptively decreases risk-taking only when the lottery is highly risky but increases risk-taking when the probability of winning is ambiguous (even after controlling for subjective value). Together, this suggests that the role of arousal during decisions of uncertainty is modulatory and highly dependent on the context in which the decision is framed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
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The Influence of Emotion Upregulation on the Expectation of Sexual Reward.
Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Trimbos, Baptist; Both, Stephanie
2016-01-01
Emotion regulation research has shown successful altering of unwanted aversive emotional reactions. Cognitive strategies can also downregulate expectations of reward arising from conditioned stimuli, including sexual stimuli. However, little is known about whether such strategies can also efficiently upregulate expectations of sexual reward arising from conditioned stimuli, and possible gender differences therein. The present study examined whether a cognitive upregulatory strategy could successfully upregulate sexual arousal elicited by sexual reward-conditioned cues in men and women. Men (n = 40) and women (n = 53) participated in a study using a differential conditioning paradigm, with genital vibrostimulation as unconditioned stimulus (US) and sexually relevant pictures as conditional stimuli. Penile circumference and vaginal pulse amplitude were assessed and ratings of US expectancy, affective value, and sexual arousal value were obtained. Also a stimulus response compatibility task was included to assess automatic approach and avoidance tendencies. Evidence was found for emotion upregulation to increase genital arousal response in the acquisition phase in both sexes, and to enhance resistance to extinction of conditioned genital responding in women. In men, the emotion upregulatory strategy resulted in increased conditioned positive affect. The findings support that top-down modulation may indeed influence conditioned sexual responses. This knowledge may have implications for treating disturbances in sexual appetitive responses, such as low sexual arousal and desire. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Roberts, Verena M; Prause, Nicole
2012-02-01
Distractions from sexual cues have been shown to decrease the sexual response, but it is unclear how distracters decrease sexual response. Individual differences may modulate the efficacy of distracters. Forty women viewed three sexual films while their labial temperature and continuous self-reported sexual arousal were monitored. One sexual film had simultaneous verbal distracters concerning dissatisfaction with one's physical appearance (higher salience distracter), a second had distracters concerning daily chores (lower salience distracter), and the third sexual film had no distracters. Participant's reporting greater relationship satisfaction and more communication with their partner about their own physical appearance were expected to decrease the efficacy (increased sexual arousal) of the distracters concerning physical appearance. Contrary to expectations, women who received less feedback about their body from their partners reported less sexual arousal during a sexual film with body distracters than a sexual film with general distracters or a sexual film with no distracters. All women exhibited lower labial temperature in Minutes 2 and 3 of the sexual film with body image distracters as compared to the other two sexual films. Possible explanations explored include self-verification theory and individual differences in the indicators that women consider when rating their sexual arousal.
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Deep Physiological Arousal Detection in a Driving Simulator Using Wearable Sensors
Saeed, Aaqib; Trajanovski, Stojan; van Keulen, Maurice; van Erp, Johannes Bernardus Fransiscus
2017-01-01
Driving is an activity that requires considerable alertness. Insufficient attention, imperfect perception, inadequate information processing, and sub-optimal arousal are possible causes of poor human performance. Understanding of these causes and the implementation of effective remedies is of key
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Howard, J R; O'Neill, S; Travers, C
2006-10-01
To investigate the sexual behavior, sexual relationships, sexual satisfaction, sexual dysfunction and sexual distress in a population of older urban Australian women. In 2004, 474 women participating in the Longitudinal Assessment of Ageing in Women (LAW) Study completed a series of questionnaires about sexuality. They included the Short Personal Experiences Questionnaire (SPEQ), Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS), Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS), questions concerning past sexual abuse based on the Sex in Australia Study, and questions comparing present and past sexual interest and activity. The percentage of women with partners ranged from 83.3% in the 40 - 49-year age group to 46.4% women in the 70 - 79-year age group. The sexual ability of partners diminished markedly with age, with only 4.8% of the partners using medication to enable erections. Only 2.5% of women reported low relationship satisfaction. The incidence of sexual distress was also low, being reported by only 5.7% of women. Younger women and women with partners had higher levels of distress than older women. Indifference to sexual frequency rose from 26.7% in women aged 40 - 49 years to 72.3% in the 70 - 79-year age group. Past sexual abuse was recalled by 22.7% of women and 11.6% recalled multiple episodes of abuse. Women who recalled abuse had lower scores for satisfaction with sexual frequency. It appears from this study that there is a wide range of sexual experience amongst aging women, from never having had a sexual partner, to having solitary sex, to having a relationship with or without sex into the seventh decade. As women age, they experience a decrease in sexual activity, interest in sex, and distress about sex. This may be associated with the loss of intimate relationships as part of separation, divorce or bereavement. Decreased sexual activity with aging may be interpreted as a biological phenomenon (part of the aging process) or as sexual dysfunction, or it may be the result of
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Pascoal, Patrícia M.; Byers, E. Sandra; Alvarez, Maria-João; Santos-Iglesias, Pablo; Nobre, Pedro J.; Pereira, Cicero Roberto; Laan, Ellen
2017-01-01
Researchers have demonstrated that several dimensions of sexual functioning (e.g., sexual desire, arousal, orgasm) are associated with the sexual satisfaction of individuals in a committed mixed-sex (male-female) relationship. We extended this research by comparing a dyadic model that included both
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Night-to-night arousal variability and interscorer reliability of arousal measurements.
Loredo, J S; Clausen, J L; Ancoli-Israel, S; Dimsdale, J E
1999-11-01
Measurement of arousals from sleep is clinically important, however, their definition is not well standardized, and little data exist on reliability. The purpose of this study is to determine factors that affect arousal scoring reliability and night-to-night arousal variability. The night-to-night arousal variability and interscorer reliability was assessed in 20 subjects with and without obstructive sleep apnea undergoing attended polysomnography during two consecutive nights. Five definitions of arousal were studied, assessing duration of electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency changes, increases in electromyographic (EMG) activity and leg movement, association with respiratory events, as well as the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) definition of arousals. NA. NA. NA. Interscorer reliability varied with the definition of arousal and ranged from an Intraclass correlation (ICC) of 0.19 to 0.92. Arousals that included increases in EMG activity or leg movement had the greatest reliability, especially when associated with respiratory events (ICC 0.76 to 0.92). The ASDA arousal definition had high interscorer reliability (ICC 0.84). Reliability was lowest for arousals consisting of EEG changes lasting <3 seconds (ICC 0.19 to 0.37). The within subjects night-to-night arousal variability was low for all arousal definitions In a heterogeneous population, interscorer arousal reliability is enhanced by increases in EMG activity, leg movements, and respiratory events and decreased by short duration EEG arousals. The arousal index night-to-night variability was low for all definitions.
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Ahlers, Christoph Joseph; Schaefer, Gerard Alfons; Mundt, Ingrid Annette; Roll, Stephanie; Englert, Heike; Willich, Stefan N; Beier, Klaus Michael
2011-05-01
This is a report of a cross-sectional study on paraphilia-associated sexual arousal patterns (PASAP) among men in a metropolitan city in Germany, EU. To determine the prevalence of PASAP during sexual fantasies, fantasies accompanying masturbation, and real-life sociosexual behavior. In a cross-sectional study, self-reported sexual history data were collected by questionnaire from 367 volunteers recruited from a community sample of 1,915 men aged 40-79 years. The Derogatis Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LSQ; German original, Fragebogen zur Lebenszufriedenheit, [FLZ]) were administered to obtain a general subjective health measure and a measure of general as well as sex life satisfaction. The Questionnaire on Sexual Experiences and Behaviour was administered to comprehensively assess all relevant sexo-medical data. Results. The percent of men that reported at least one PASAP was 62.4%. In 1.7% of cases, PASAP were reported to have caused distress. The presence of PASAP was associated with a higher likelihood of being single (odds ratio [OR] 2.6; 95%; confidence interval [CI] 1.047-6.640), masturbating at least once per week (OR 4.4; 95%; CI 1.773-10.914), or having a low general subjective health score (OR 11.9; 95%; CI 2.601-54.553). Pedophilic PASAP in sexual fantasies and in real-life sociosexual behavior was reported by 9.5% and 3.8% of participants, respectively. The findings suggest that paraphilia-related experience can not be regarded as unusual from a normative perspective. At the same time, many men experience PASAP without accompanying problem awareness or distress, even when PASAP contents are associated with potentially causing harm to others. In view of the relevance for sex life and relationship satisfaction, presence of PASAP should be assessed in all sexual medicine consultations. Future research should focus on conditions in which PASAP reach clinical significance in the sense of mental disorders.
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Blom, Rianne M.; van der Wal, Sija J.; Vulink, Nienke C.; Denys, Damiaan
2017-01-01
Body integrity identity disorder (BIID)-a strong desire for amputation or paralysis-is often accompanied by feelings and cognitions of sexual arousal, although this sexual component has been largely neglected in the recent literature. To examine the presence of BIID-related sexual arousal in
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Sexual Behavior in Adults with Autism.
Van Bourgondien, Mary E.; And Others
1997-01-01
A survey of the sexual behavior of 89 adults with autism living in group homes found that the majority of individuals were engaging in some form of sexual behavior. Masturbation was the most common sexual behavior; however, person-oriented sexual behaviors with obvious signs of arousal were also found. Information regarding group home sexuality…
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[A Matter of Nerves - Applied Neurophysiology of Female Sexuality].
Bischof, Karoline
2015-06-17
Sexual problems are often attributed to psychological or physical deficits that are difficult to modify, or to a poor lover. In contrast, the neurophysiological interaction between body and brain can be understood as fundamental for the genital and emotional experience of sexuality. Neuropsychological discoveries and clinical observations show that elevated muscle tension, superficial breathing and reduced body movement, as employed by many individuals during sexual arousal, will limit the perception of arousal and the degree of sexual pleasure. In contrast, deep breathing and variations in movement and muscle tension support it. Through the use of self awareness exercises and physical learning steps, patients can integrate their sexuality and increases its resistance to psychological, medical and relational interferences.
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Women's Sexual Desire and Arousal Disorders
Brotto, Lori A.; Bitzer, Johannes; Laan, Ellen; Leiblum, Sandra; Luria, Mijal
2010-01-01
ABSTRACT Introduction. A committee of five was convened to update the chapter on women's sexual dysfunctions from the perspective of diagnostic issues, pathophysiology, assessment, and treatment. Aim. To review the literature since 2003 and provide recommendations based on evidence. Methods.
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Sexual function among married menopausal women in Amol (Iran
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shabnam Omidvar
2011-01-01
Conclusion: Findings revealed high percentage of sexual desire disorder and sexual arousal disorder in menopausal women. Therefore, we should have emphasis on counseling and education about sexual activities during the menopause period.
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Bidirectional interactions between the baroreceptor reflex and arousal: an update.
Silvani, Alessandro; Calandra-Buonaura, Giovanna; Benarroch, Eduardo E; Dampney, Roger A L; Cortelli, Pietro
2015-02-01
Studies involving genetic engineering on animal models and mathematical analysis of cardiovascular signals on humans are shedding new light on the interactions between the arterial baroreceptor reflex (baroreflex) and arousal. Baroreceptor stimulation, if very mild or performed under anaesthesia, may inhibit cortical arousal. However, substantial increases or decreases in baroreflex activation cause arousal in animal models and human subjects in physiological conditions. On the other hand, cardiovascular changes during autonomic arousals and between the states of wakefulness and sleep involve changes in the baroreflex set point and balance with central autonomic commands. Neural connectivity and functional data suggest that the nucleus of the solitary tract, adrenergic C1 neurons of the medulla, and the parabrachial nucleus of the pons mediate the bidirectional interactions between the baroreflex and arousal. These interactions may constitute a positive feedback loop that facilitates sharp and coordinated brain state and autonomic transitions upon arousal: upon arousal, central autonomic commands may increase blood pressure, thereby loading baroreceptors and further increasing arousal. Anomalies of this feedback loop may play a role in the pathophysiology of disease conditions associated with cardiovascular and sleep-wake cycle alterations. These conditions include: obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, with its association with excessive daytime sleepiness and baroreflex impairment; and insomnia, with its association with autonomic hyperarousal and hypertension. When faced with disorders associated with cardiovascular and sleep-wake cycle alterations, clinical reasoning should entertain the possibility that both conditions are strongly influenced by anomalies of baroreflex function. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Pedophile types and treatment perspectives.
Travin, S; Bluestone, H; Coleman, E; Cullen, K; Melella, J
1986-04-01
Pedophiles constitute a heterogeneous group of sex offenders. Direct physiological assessment of sexual arousal has significantly increased our diagnostic skill and capability of monitoring treatment response. Erectile response studies have indicated that the majority of pedophiles and incest offenders show arousal to other paraphilias and frequently to appropriate adult sexual stimuli. Many sexual offenders deny or minimize their problem during initial interviews, but when confronted with laboratory results indicating deviant sexual arousal, they often acknowledge and elaborate on the paraphilia(s). Complete data and diagnoses are crucial in integrating treatment in the cognitive-behavioral paradigm.
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Toward a More Evidence-Based Nosology and Nomenclature for Female Sexual Dysfunctions—Part II
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Parish, Sharon J; Goldstein, Andrew T; Goldstein, Sue W
2016-01-01
to definitions of female sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm disorders and persistent genital arousal disorder. The attendees consisted of 10 psychiatrists and psychologists; 12 health care providers in specialties such as gynecology, internal medicine, and sexual medicine; three basic scientists; and one...
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Alexithymia and empathy predict changes in autonomic arousal during affective stimulation.
Bogdanov, Volodymyr B; Bogdanova, Olena V; Gorlov, Dmytro S; Gorgo, Yuriy P; Dirckx, Joris J J; Makarchuk, Mykola Y; Schoenen, Jean; Critchley, Hugo
2013-09-01
Alexithymia, the inability to describe one's own emotions, is linked to deficits in empathy, manifesting as a diminished capacity to recognize or understand the emotions and mental states of others. Several brain centers of autonomic control and interoception that are activated in empathy are thought to misfunction in alexithymia. We hypothesized that individual differences in autonomic changes under affective stimulation might be associated with differences in alexithymia and empathy. We studied 21 healthy volunteers, comparing their alexithymia and empathy scores with changes in their sympathetic autonomic arousal, indexed by the palmar skin potential level, during 3 tasks: playing a computer game, performing mental arithmetic, and watching a negative emotional valence video. Both autonomic and subjective sense of arousal increased at the beginning of each task and then gradually subsided over the course of the task. Higher autonomic arousal at the onset of the computer game was associated with higher empathy scores, and at the onset of the negative video with higher scores for both empathy and alexithymia. Alexithymia delayed the habituation of autonomic arousal during the computer game, while the empathy score was related to a faster decline in arousal during the negative video task. High alexithymia and high empathy scores were linked to increased autonomic arousal at the onset of emotional stimulation, but were distinguishable in the rates of habituation of the evoked arousal. Our data provide insight into the relationships among interacting psychological traits, physiologic regulation, and the arousal dimension of emotional experience.
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Reading the Freudian theory of sexual drives from a functional neuroimaging perspective
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Serge eStoléru
2014-03-01
Full Text Available One of the essential tasks of neuropsychoanalysis is to investigate the neural correlates of sexual drives. Here, we consider the four defining characteristics of sexual drives as delineated by Freud: their pressure, aim, object, and source. We systematically examine the relations between these characteristics and the four-component neurophenomenological model that we have proposed based on functional neuroimaging studies, which comprises a cognitive, a motivational, an emotional and an autonomic/neuroendocrine component. Functional neuroimaging studies of sexual arousal have thrown a new light on the four fundamental characteristics of sexual drives by identifying their potential neural correlates. While these studies are essentally consistent with the Freudian model of drives, the main difference emerging between the functional neuroimaging perspective on sexual drives and the Freudian theory relates to the source of drives. From a functional neuroimaging perspective sources of sexual drives, conceived by psychoanalysis as processes of excitation occurring in a peripheral organ, do not seem, at least in adult subjects, to be an essential part of the determinants of sexual arousal. It is rather the central processing of visual or genital stimuli that gives to these stimuli their sexually arousing and sexually pleasurable character.
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Factors associated with sexual dysfunction in Jordanian women and their sexual attitudes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ali, Ruba M. Abu; AlHajeri Rabaa M; Khader, Yousef S; Ajlouni, Kamel M
2009-01-01
Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is defined as disorders of libido, arousal, and orgasm, as well as sexual pain, that leads to personal distress or interpersonal difficulties. Social aspects of FSD have been understudied. The aim of this study was to explore the social aspects of FSD and sexual attitudes of Jordanian women. Six hundred thirteen married females were studied between October 2006 and August 2007 at the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics (NCDEG), Amman, Jordan. Females were interviewed using a special questionnaire that was suitable to our culture and added to the Arabic translation of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) Questionnaire. Older age was associated with a decreased total FSD index and its domain scores. Women with obesity were more likely to have impaired arousability and impaired capability of reaching orgasm. About 58.5% of women reported that they prepared themselves if they had sexual desire and 68.2% reported wearing special attire for this purpose. Only 37.2% of women could ask their husband for a special excitement. FSD is prevalent in Jordan. Its social aspects are understudied and need more research in the future. (author)
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Yawning, acute stressors, and arousal reduction in Nazca booby adults and nestlings.
Liang, Amy C; Grace, Jacquelyn K; Tompkins, Emily M; Anderson, David J
2015-03-01
Yawning is a familiar and phylogenetically widespread phenomenon, but no consensus exists regarding its functional significance. We tested the hypothesis that yawning communicates to others a transition from a state of physiological and/or psychological arousal (for example, due to action of a stressor) to a more relaxed state. This arousal reduction hypothesis predicts little yawning during arousal and more yawning (above baseline) during and after down-regulation of arousal. Experimental capture-restraint tests with wild adult Nazca boobies (Sula granti), a seabird, increased yawning frequency after release from restraint, but yawning was almost absent during tests. Natural maltreatment by non-parental adults also increased yawning by nestlings, but only after the maltreatment ended and the adult left. CORT (corticosterone) was a logical a priori element of the stress response affecting the stressor-yawning relationship under the arousal reduction hypothesis, and cannot be excluded as such for adults in capture-restraint tests but is apparently unimportant for nestlings being maltreated by adults. The arousal reduction hypothesis unites formerly disparate results on yawning: its socially contagious nature in some taxa, its clear pharmacological connection to the stress response, and its temporal linkage to transitions in arousal between consciousness and sleep. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Light and Cognition: Roles for Circadian Rhythms, Sleep, and Arousal
Fisk, Angus S.; Tam, Shu K. E.; Brown, Laurence A.; Vyazovskiy, Vladyslav V.; Bannerman, David M.; Peirson, Stuart N.
2018-01-01
Light exerts a wide range of effects on mammalian physiology and behavior. As well as synchronizing circadian rhythms to the external environment, light has been shown to modulate autonomic and neuroendocrine responses as well as regulating sleep and influencing cognitive processes such as attention, arousal, and performance. The last two decades have seen major advances in our understanding of the retinal photoreceptors that mediate these non-image forming responses to light, as well as the neural pathways and molecular mechanisms by which circadian rhythms are generated and entrained to the external light/dark (LD) cycle. By contrast, our understanding of the mechanisms by which lighting influences cognitive processes is more equivocal. The effects of light on different cognitive processes are complex. As well as the direct effects of light on alertness, indirect effects may also occur due to disrupted circadian entrainment. Despite the widespread use of disrupted LD cycles to study the role circadian rhythms on cognition, the different experimental protocols used have subtly different effects on circadian function which are not always comparable. Moreover, these protocols will also disrupt sleep and alter physiological arousal, both of which are known to modulate cognition. Studies have used different assays that are dependent on different cognitive and sensory processes, which may also contribute to their variable findings. Here, we propose that studies addressing the effects of different lighting conditions on cognitive processes must also account for their effects on circadian rhythms, sleep, and arousal if we are to fully understand the physiological basis of these responses. PMID:29479335
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The effects of arousal reappraisal on stress responses, performance and attention.
Sammy, Nadine; Anstiss, Paul A; Moore, Lee J; Freeman, Paul; Wilson, Mark R; Vine, Samuel J
2017-11-01
This study examined the effects of arousal reappraisal on cardiovascular responses, demand and resource evaluations, self-confidence, performance and attention under pressurized conditions. A recent study by Moore et al. [2015. Reappraising threat: How to optimize performance under pressure. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 37(3), 339-343. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2014-0186 ] suggested that arousal reappraisal is beneficial to the promotion of challenge states and leads to improvements in single-trial performance. This study aimed to further the work of Moore and colleagues (2015) by examining the effects of arousal reappraisal on cardiovascular responses, demand and resource evaluations, self-confidence, performance and attention in a multi-trial pressurized performance situation. Participants were randomly assigned to either an arousal reappraisal intervention or control condition, and completed a pressurized dart throwing task. The intervention encouraged participants to view their physiological arousal as facilitative rather than debilitative to performance. Measures of cardiovascular reactivity, demand and resource evaluations, self-confidence, task performance and attention were recorded. The reappraisal group displayed more favorable cardiovascular reactivity and reported higher resource evaluations and higher self-confidence than the control group but no task performance or attention effects were detected. These findings demonstrate the strength of arousal reappraisal in promoting adaptive stress responses, perceptions of resources and self-confidence.
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Prevalence and degree of sexual dysfunction in a sample of women seeking bariatric surgery.
Bond, Dale S; Vithiananthan, Siva; Leahey, Tricia M; Thomas, J Graham; Sax, Harry C; Pohl, Dieter; Ryder, Beth A; Roye, G Dean; Giovanni, Jeannine; Wing, Rena R
2009-01-01
Sexual functioning has been shown to be impaired in women who are obese, particularly those seeking bariatric surgery. However, most previous studies evaluating sexual function in these populations have not used validated measures. We used the validated Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to assess the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in a sample of >100 women evaluated for bariatric surgery. The FSFI was administered to reportedly sexually active women during their preoperative evaluation. The scores for the individual FSFI domains (desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain) ranging from 0 (or 1.2) to 6 were summed to produce a FSFI total score (range 2-36). A FSFI total cutoff score of sexual arousal disorder and healthy controls. Of the 102 women, 61 (59.8%) had FSFI total scores of sexual arousal disorder group (all P values sexual function impairment, with 60% of participants reporting FSD. These findings highlight the need to initiate routine assessment of sexual functioning in this population and examine whether the weight loss after bariatric surgery contributes to a reversal of FSD.
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Effects of hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and thyroid autoimmunity on female sexual function.
Oppo, A; Franceschi, E; Atzeni, F; Taberlet, A; Mariotti, S
2011-06-01
Thyroid hormones affect male and female sexual functions, but data in hypo- and hyperthyroid women are scanty. To investigate sexual function in hypo- and hyperthyroid women before and immediately after restoration of euthyroidism and in women with euthyroid Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). Fifty-six women with thyroid diseases (age 19-50 yr; 22 with hyperthyroidism, 17 with hypothyroidism, and 17 with euthyroid HT) and 30 age-matched healthy women. Hypoactive sexual desire, disorders of sexual arousal, vaginal lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and sexual pain (SPD) were assessed by Female Sexual Function Index. Serum TSH, free T4 (FT4) and thyroid autoantibodies (anti-thyroglobulin, anti-thyroperoxidase, and TSH-receptor antibodies) were assessed at the diagnosis; FT4 and TSH were repeated after treatment to confirm normalization of thyroid function. All sexual domains scores were significantly reduced (p ranging hyperthyroid women. Correction of hypothyroidism was associated to normalization of desire, satisfaction, and pain, while arousal and orgasm remained unchanged. In hyperthyroid women therapy normalized sexual desire, arousal/lubrication, satisfaction, and pain, while orgasm remained significantly impaired. Interestingly, euthyroid HT women displayed a significant decrease in sexual desire (phyperthyroidism markedly impair female sexual function. A rapid improvement is observed with the restoration of euthyroidism, although a longer period of time may be needed for full normalization. Preliminary data suggest that thyroid autoimmunity may selectively impair sexual desire, independently from thyroid function.
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Sexual dysfunction during primiparous and multiparous women ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Normal sexual functioning comprises of sexual activity together with transition through the phases from arousal to relaxation with no problem. Delivery has different effects on body organs, especially, on genitalia the disorder of which can cause sexual dysfunctions. In this study, an attempt is made to compare postpartum ...
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Extinction of aversive classically conditioned human sexual response.
Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Both, Stephanie
2015-04-01
Research has shown that acquired subjective likes and dislikes are quite resistant to extinction. Moreover, studies on female sexual response demonstrated that diminished genital arousal and positive affect toward erotic stimuli due to aversive classical conditioning did not extinguish during an extinction phase. Possible resistance to extinction of aversive conditioned sexual responses may have important clinical implications. However, resistance to extinction of aversive conditioned human sexual response has not been studied using extensive extinction trials. This article aims to study resistance to extinction of aversive conditioned sexual responses in sexually functional men and women. A differential conditioning experiment was conducted, with two erotic pictures as conditioned stimulus (CSs) and a painful stimulus as unconditioned stimuli (USs). Only one CS (the CS+) was followed by the US during the acquisition phase. Conditioned responses were assessed during the extinction phase. Penile circumference and vaginal pulse amplitude were assessed, and ratings of affective value and subjective sexual arousal were obtained. Also, a stimulus response compatibility task was included to assess automatic approach and avoidance tendencies. Men and women rated the CS+ more negative as compared with the CS-. During the first trials of the extinction phase, vaginal pulse amplitude was lower in response to the CS+ than in response to the CS-, and on the first extinction trial women rated the CS+ as less sexually arousing. Intriguingly, men did not demonstrate attenuated genital and subjective sexual response. Aversive conditioning, by means of painful stimuli, only affects sexual responses in women, whereas it does not in men. Although conditioned sexual likes and dislikes are relatively persistent, conditioned affect eventually does extinguish. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Janssen, Erick; Macapagal, Kathryn R.; Mustanski, Brian
2013-01-01
Previous research using the Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ) has revealed substantial variability in how negative mood impacts sexual response and behavior. However, the MSQ does not address differences between desire for solo or partnered sexual activity, examine the effects of sexual activity on mood, or assess the effects of positive mood. This paper presents the development and factor structure of the Revised Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ-R). An exploratory factor analysis in a sample of heterosexual men, homosexual men, and heterosexual women (N = 1983) produced 8 factors. Considerable variability was found in how moods influence sexual desire and arousal, in the effects of mood on sexual behavior, and in the reciprocal effects of sexual activity on mood. Among other findings, heterosexual women were less likely than heterosexual and homosexual men to experience increased sexual desire and arousal when anxious or stressed, whereas homosexual men and heterosexual women were less likely than heterosexual men to experience increased desire when sad or depressed. Heterosexual men and women were more likely than homosexual men to report increased desire when in a positive mood. Intercorrelations and correlations with various sexual behaviors varied by group. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed. PMID:22963331
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Brain response to visual sexual stimuli in homosexual pedophiles.
Schiffer, Boris; Krueger, Tillmann; Paul, Thomas; de Greiff, Armin; Forsting, Michael; Leygraf, Norbert; Schedlowski, Manfred; Gizewski, Elke
2008-01-01
The neurobiological mechanisms of deviant sexual preferences such as pedophilia are largely unknown. The objective of this study was to analyze whether brain activation patterns of homosexual pedophiles differed from those of a nonpedophile homosexual control group during visual sexual stimulation. A consecutive sample of 11 pedophile forensic inpatients exclusively attracted to boys and 12 age-matched homosexual control participants from a comparable socioeconomic stratum underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a visual sexual stimulation procedure that used sexually stimulating and emotionally neutral photographs. Sexual arousal was assessed according to a subjective rating scale. In contrast to sexually neutral pictures, in both groups sexually arousing pictures having both homosexual and pedophile content activated brain areas known to be involved in processing visual stimuli containing emotional content, including the occipitotemporal and prefrontal cortices. However, during presentation of the respective sexual stimuli, the thalamus, globus pallidus and striatum, which correspond to the key areas of the brain involved in sexual arousal and behaviour, showed significant activation in pedophiles, but not in control subjects. Central processing of visual sexual stimuli in homosexual pedophiles seems to be comparable to that in nonpedophile control subjects. However, compared with homosexual control subjects, activation patterns in pedophiles refer more strongly to subcortical regions, which have previously been discussed in the context of processing reward signals and also play an important role in addictive and stimulus-controlled behaviour. Thus future studies should further elucidate the specificity of these brain regions for the processing of sexual stimuli in pedophilia and should address the generally weaker activation pattern in homosexual men.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Oh, Seok Kyun; Kim, Gwang Won; Kang, Heoung Keun; Jeong, Gwang Woo [Chonnam National University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Yang, Jong Chul [Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Seok Kwun [Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan (Korea, Republic of)
2012-06-15
This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to contrast the differential brain activation patterns in response to visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures in male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals who underwent a sex reassignment surgery. A total of nine healthy MTF transsexuals after a sex reassignment surgery underwent fMRI on a 3.0 Tesla MR Scanner. The brain activation patterns were induced by visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures. The sex hormone levels of the postoperative MTF transsexuals were in the normal range of healthy heterosexual females. The brain areas, which were activated by viewing male nude pictures when compared with viewing female nude pictures, included predominantly the cerebellum, hippocampus, putamen, anterior cingulate gyrus, head of caudate nucleus, amygdala, midbrain, thalamus, insula, and body of caudate nucleus. On the other hand, brain activation induced by viewing female nude pictures was predominantly observed in the hypothalamus and the septal area. Our findings suggest that distinct brain activation patterns associated with visual sexual arousal in postoperative MTF transsexuals reflect their sexual orientation to males.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Oh, Seok Kyun; Kim, Gwang Won; Kang, Heoung Keun; Jeong, Gwang Woo; Yang, Jong Chul; Kim, Seok Kwun
2012-01-01
This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to contrast the differential brain activation patterns in response to visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures in male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals who underwent a sex reassignment surgery. A total of nine healthy MTF transsexuals after a sex reassignment surgery underwent fMRI on a 3.0 Tesla MR Scanner. The brain activation patterns were induced by visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures. The sex hormone levels of the postoperative MTF transsexuals were in the normal range of healthy heterosexual females. The brain areas, which were activated by viewing male nude pictures when compared with viewing female nude pictures, included predominantly the cerebellum, hippocampus, putamen, anterior cingulate gyrus, head of caudate nucleus, amygdala, midbrain, thalamus, insula, and body of caudate nucleus. On the other hand, brain activation induced by viewing female nude pictures was predominantly observed in the hypothalamus and the septal area. Our findings suggest that distinct brain activation patterns associated with visual sexual arousal in postoperative MTF transsexuals reflect their sexual orientation to males.
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How Ego Depletion Affects Sexual Self-Regulation: Is It More Than Resource Depletion?
Nolet, Kevin; Rouleau, Joanne-Lucine; Benbouriche, Massil; Carrier Emond, Fannie; Renaud, Patrice
2015-12-21
Rational thinking and decision making are impacted when in a state of sexual arousal. The inability to self-regulate arousal can be linked to numerous problems, like sexual risk taking, infidelity, and sexual coercion. Studies have shown that most men are able to exert voluntary control over their sexual excitation with various levels of success. Both situational and dispositional factors can influence self-regulation achievement. The goal of this research was to investigate how ego depletion, a state of low self-control capacity, interacts with personality traits-propensities for sexual excitation and inhibition-and cognitive absorption, to cause sexual self-regulation failure. The sexual responses of 36 heterosexual males were assessed using penile plethysmography. They were asked to control their sexual arousal in two conditions, with and without ego depletion. Results suggest that ego depletion has opposite effects based on the trait sexual inhibition, as individuals moderately inhibited showed an increase in performance while highly inhibited ones showed a decrease. These results challenge the limited resource model of self-regulation and point to the importance of considering how people adapt to acute and high challenging conditions.
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Gunst, Annika; Jern, Patrick; Westberg, Lars; Johansson, Ada; Salo, Benny; Burri, Andrea; Spector, Tim; Eriksson, Elias; Sandnabba, N Kenneth; Santtila, Pekka
2015-03-01
Female sexual desire and arousal problems have been shown to have a heritable component of moderate size. Previous molecular genetic studies on sexual desire have mainly focused on genes associated with neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that hormones with more specific functions concerning sexuality could have an impact on sexual desire and arousal. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effects of 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in estrogen receptor genes on female sexual desire and subjective and genital arousal (lubrication). Based on previous research, we hypothesized that ESR1 and ESR2 are relevant genes that contribute to female sexual desire and arousal. The desire, arousal, and lubrication subdomains of the Female Sexual Function Index self-report questionnaire were used. The present study involved 2,448 female twins and their sisters aged 18-49 who had submitted saliva samples for genotyping. The participants were a subset from a large-scale, population-based sample. We found nominally significant main effects on sexual desire for three ESR2 -linked SNPs when controlled for anxiety, suggesting that individuals homozygous for the G allele of the rs1271572 SNP, and the A allele of the rs4986938 and rs928554 SNPs had lower levels of sexual desire. The rs4986938 SNP also had a nominally significant effect on lubrication. No effects for any of the SNPs on subjective arousal could be detected. The number of nominally significant results for SNPs in the ESR2 gene before correcting for multiple testing suggests that further studies on the possible influence of this gene on interindividual variation in female sexual functioning are warranted. In contrast, no support for an involvement of ESR1 was obtained. Our results should be interpreted with caution until replicated in independent, large samples. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Anderson, C A; Bushman, B J
2001-09-01
Research on exposure to television and movie violence suggests that playing violent video games will increase aggressive behavior. A metaanalytic review of the video-game research literature reveals that violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults. Experimental and nonexperimental studies with males and females in laboratory and field settings support this conclusion. Analyses also reveal that exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings. Playing violent video games also decreases prosocial behavior.
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Sadistic Sexual Assault Case Study
Alghffar EA; Said AA
2017-01-01
Sexual sadism disorder is the condition of experiencing sexual arousal in response to the extreme pain, suffering or humiliation of others [1]. Several other terms have been used to describe the condition, and the condition may overlap with other conditions that involve inflicting pain. It is distinct from situations in which consenting individuals use mild or simulated pain or humiliation for sexual excitement [4]. Sexual sadism disorder has been found to be potentially dangerous if paired w...
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Soundtrack contents and depicted sexual violence.
Pfaus, J G; Myronuk, L D; Jacobs, W J
1986-06-01
Male undergraduates were exposed to a videotaped depiction of heterosexual rape accompanied by one of three soundtracks: the original soundtrack (featuring dialogue and background rock music), relaxing music, or no sound. Subjective reports of sexual arousal, general enjoyment, perceived erotic content, and perceived pornographic content of the sequence were then provided by each subject. Results indicated that males exposed to the videotape accompanied by the original soundtrack found the sequence significantly more pornographic than males exposed to the sequence accompanied by either relaxing background music or no sound. Ratings of sexual arousal, general enjoyment, and the perceived erotic content, however, did not differ significantly across soundtrack conditions. These results are compatible with the assertion that the content of a video soundtrack may influence the impact of depicted sexual violence.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kasia Kozlowska, MBBS., PhD. FRANZCP
2017-01-01
Conclusions: Our findings add to a growing literature indicating that a baseline state of high arousal may be a precondition for generating functional neurological symptoms, a finding that helps explain why a range of psychological and physiological stressors can trigger functional neurological symptoms in some patients. Interventions that target cortical arousal may be central to the treatment of paediatric patients with functional neurological symptom disorder.
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Puberty and adolescent sexuality.
Fortenberry, J Dennis
2013-07-01
This article is part of a Special Issue "Puberty and Adolescence". Sexuality emerges as a major developmental element of puberty and the adolescent years that follow. However, connecting the sexuality that emerges with puberty and elements of adult sexuality is difficult because much adolescent sexuality research addresses the transition to partnered sexual behaviors (primarily coitus) and consequences such as unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. This review proposes a framework of an expanded understanding of puberty and adolescent sexuality from the perspective of four hallmarks of adult sexuality: sexual desire; sexual arousal; sexual behaviors; and, sexual function. This approach thus addresses important gaps in understanding of the ontogeny of sex and the continuum of sexuality development from adolescence through the adult lifespan. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The Aggression-Inhibiting and Aggression-Facilitating Influence of Heightened Sexual Arousal.
Baron, Robert A.; Bell, Paul A.
Eighty-six undergraduate males participated in an experiment designed to investigate the impact of various types of erotic stimuli upon aggression. On the basis of previous research, it was hypothesized that exposure to mild erotic stimuli would tend to inhibit subsequent aggression, while exposure to more arousing stimuli of this type would…
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Reconceptualising women’s sexual desire and arousal in DSM-5
Graham, Cynthia A.
2015-01-01
The publication of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in 2013 was the culmination of more than a decade of work by the APA DSM-5 task force and Work Groups. From 2007 to 2013, I served as a member of the Sexual Dysfunctions subworkgroup, part of the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders workgroup. In the area of sexual disorders, some of the most significant changes were made in diagnostic categories for female sexual dysfunction. The DSM-IV ...
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van Overveld, Mark; de Jong, Peter J; Peters, Madelon L; van Lankveld, Jacques; Melles, Reinhilde; ter Kuile, Moniek M
2013-02-01
Disgust may be involved in sexual problems by disrupting sexual arousal and motivating avoidance of sexual intercourse. To test whether heightened disgust for sexual contaminants is related to sexual dysfunctions, the Sexual Disgust Questionnaire (SDQ) has recently been developed. Previous research showed that particularly women with vaginismus display a generally heightened dispositional disgust propensity and heightened disgust toward stimuli depicting sexual intercourse. To determine the psychometric properties of the SDQ and test whether heightened disgust toward sexual stimuli is specific to vaginismus or can be observed in other sexual dysfunctions as well. First, a large sample of undergraduates and university employees completed the SDQ (N = 762) and several trait disgust indices. Next, women with vaginismus (N = 39), dyspareunia (N = 45), and men with erectile disorder (N = 28) completed the SDQ and were compared to participants without sexual problems (N = 70). SDQ to index sexual disgust. The SDQ proved a valid and reliable index to establish disgust propensity for sexual stimuli. Supporting construct validity of the SDQ, sexual disgust correlated with established trait indices. Furthermore, sexual disgust and willingness to handle sexually contaminated stimuli were associated with sexual functioning in women, but not in men. Specifically women with vaginismus displayed heightened sexual disgust compared to women without sexual problems, while men with erectile disorders demonstrated a lower willingness to handle sexually contaminated stimuli compared to men without sexual problems. The SDQ appears a valid and reliable measure of sexual disgust. The pattern of SDQ-scores across males and females with and without sexual dysfunctions corroborates earlier research suggesting that disgust appraisals are involved especially in vaginismus and supports the view that the difficulty with vaginal penetration experienced by women in vaginismus may partly be due to
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Segregation of information about emotional arousal and valence in horse whinnies.
Briefer, Elodie F; Maigrot, Anne-Laure; Mandel, Roi; Freymond, Sabrina Briefer; Bachmann, Iris; Hillmann, Edna
2015-04-21
Studying vocal correlates of emotions is important to provide a better understanding of the evolution of emotion expression through cross-species comparisons. Emotions are composed of two main dimensions: emotional arousal (calm versus excited) and valence (negative versus positive). These two dimensions could be encoded in different vocal parameters (segregation of information) or in the same parameters, inducing a trade-off between cues indicating emotional arousal and valence. We investigated these two hypotheses in horses. We placed horses in five situations eliciting several arousal levels and positive as well as negative valence. Physiological and behavioral measures collected during the tests suggested the presence of different underlying emotions. First, using detailed vocal analyses, we discovered that all whinnies contained two fundamental frequencies ("F0" and "G0"), which were not harmonically related, suggesting biphonation. Second, we found that F0 and the energy spectrum encoded arousal, while G0 and whinny duration encoded valence. Our results show that cues to emotional arousal and valence are segregated in different, relatively independent parameters of horse whinnies. Most of the emotion-related changes to vocalizations that we observed are similar to those observed in humans and other species, suggesting that vocal expression of emotions has been conserved throughout evolution.
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Confirmatory factor analysis of the female sexual function index.
Opperman, Emily A; Benson, Lindsay E; Milhausen, Robin R
2013-01-01
The Female Sexual Functioning Index (Rosen et al., 2000 ) was designed to assess the key dimensions of female sexual functioning using six domains: desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. A full-scale score was proposed to represent women's overall sexual function. The fifth revision to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is currently underway and includes a proposal to combine desire and arousal problems. The objective of this article was to evaluate and compare four models of the Female Sexual Functioning Index: (a) single-factor model, (b) six-factor model, (c) second-order factor model, and (4) five-factor model combining the desire and arousal subscales. Cross-sectional and observational data from 85 women were used to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis on the Female Sexual Functioning Index. Local and global goodness-of-fit measures, the chi-square test of differences, squared multiple correlations, and regression weights were used. The single-factor model fit was not acceptable. The original six-factor model was confirmed, and good model fit was found for the second-order and five-factor models. Delta chi-square tests of differences supported best fit for the six-factor model validating usage of the six domains. However, when revisions are made to the DSM-5, the Female Sexual Functioning Index can adapt to reflect these changes and remain a valid assessment tool for women's sexual functioning, as the five-factor structure was also supported.
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Arousal Modulation in Females with Fragile X or Turner Syndrome
Roberts, Jane; Mazzocco, Michele M. M.; Murphy, Melissa M.; Hoehn-Saric, Rudolf
2008-01-01
The present study was carried out to examine physiological arousal modulation (heart activity and skin conductance), across baseline and cognitive tasks, in females with fragile X or Turner syndrome and a comparison group of females with neither syndrome. Relative to the comparison group, for whom a greater increase in skin conductance was…
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Sexual function and behavior in social phobia.
Bodinger, Liron; Hermesh, Haggai; Aizenberg, Dov; Valevski, Avi; Marom, Sofi; Shiloh, Roni; Gothelf, Doron; Zemishlany, Zvi; Weizman, Abraham
2002-10-01
Social phobia is a type of performance and interpersonal anxiety disorder and as such may be associated with sexual dysfunction and avoidance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate sexual function and behavior in patients with social phobia compared with mentally healthy subjects. Eighty subjects participated in the study: 40 consecutive, drug-free outpatients with social phobia (DSM-IV) attending an anxiety disorders clinic between November 1997 and April 1999 and 40 mentally normal controls. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale were used to quantitatively and qualitatively assess sexual function and behavior. Men with social phobia reported mainly moderate impairment in arousal, orgasm, sexual enjoyment, and subjective satisfaction domains. Women with social phobia reported severe impairment in desire, arousal, sexual activity, and subjective satisfaction. In addition, compared with controls, men with social phobia reported significantly more frequent paid sex (p social phobia reported a significant paucity of sexual partners (p social phobia exhibit a wide range of sexual dysfunctions. Men have mainly performance problems, and women have a more pervasive disorder. Patients of both genders show difficulties in sexual interaction. It is important that clinicians be aware of this aspect of social phobia and initiate open discussions of sexual problems with patients.
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Costa, R M; Pestana, José; Costa, David; Wittmann, Marc
2017-07-01
Greater vibrotactile sensitivity has been related to better erectile function in men, and vibrotactile and pressure tactile sensitivity have been related to better sexual function in women. Our previous study found that, for both sexes, greater recalled body awareness during last sexual relation correlated with greater recalled desire and arousal. Using the same sample of that study (68 women and 48 men, recruited in the Lisbon area, Portugal), we tested if greater recalled body awareness during last sexual relation correlates with tactile pressure sensitivity, as assessed by von Frey microfilaments. In simple and partial correlations controlling for social desirability and smoking before last sex, the hypothesis was confirmed for women, but not for men. Greater tactile sensitivity might enhance sexual arousal through greater awareness of the body during sex, and/or more frequent and pleasant body sensations during sex might lead to greater tactile sensitivity in nonsexual situations. Pressure sensitivity might be more closely linked to sexual arousal in women than in men.
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The influence of atypical antipsychotic drugs on sexual function
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Just MJ
2015-07-01
Full Text Available Marek J Just Department of General and Endocrine Surgery, Piekary Medical Centre, Piekary Slaskie, Poland Abstract: Human sexuality is contingent upon many biological and psychological factors. Such factors include sexual drive (libido, physiological arousal (lubrication/erection, orgasm, and ejaculation, as well as maintaining normal menstrual cycle. The assessment of sexual dysfunction can be difficult due to the intimate nature of the problem and patients’ unwillingness to discuss it. Also, the problem of dysfunction is often overlooked by doctors. Atypical antipsychotic treatment is a key component of mental disorders’ treatment algorithms recommended by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, the American Psychiatric Association, and the British Society for Psychopharmacology. The relationship between atypical antipsychotic drugs and sexual dysfunction is mediated in part by antipsychotic blockade of pituitary dopamine D2 receptors increasing prolactin secretion, although direct correlations have not been established between raised prolactin levels and clinical symptoms. Variety of mechanisms are likely to contribute to antipsychotic-related sexual dysfunction, including hyperprolactinemia, sedation, and antagonism of a number of neurotransmitter receptors (α-adrenergic, dopaminergic, histaminic, and muscarinic. Maintaining normal sexual function in people treated for mental disorders can affect their quality of life, mood, self-esteem, attitude toward taking medication, and compliance during therapy. Keywords: schizophrenia, galactorrhea, hyperprolactinemia, mood disorders, anorgasmia
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Korda, Joanna B; Pfaus, James G; Kellner, Charles H; Goldstein, Irwin
2009-10-01
This is the second case report of a woman with bipolar disorder type I who noted the onset of persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) symptoms after abrupt cessation of paroxetine. With the worsening of PGAD symptoms, she developed severe depression and suicidal thoughts, resulting in her undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as management. To describe a case of PGAD and develop hypotheses to explain the beneficial actions of ECT on PGAD based on 4 years of ECT administration. Patient self-report after obtaining consent, as well as literature review. After the fourth ECT, the patient's PGAD symptoms abated serendipitously. She was placed on ECT on demand for the treatment of her PGAD. With each ECT treatment, PGAD symptoms immediately disappeared, relapsing slowly over time until the next ECT was administered. The patient has, thus far, received a total of 30 treatments of ECT. Side effects continue to be minimal and include brief short-term memory loss, headache, and muscle aches. ECT is known to induce cerebral excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter changes after acute and chronic administration. Sexual arousal is stimulated by the action of hypothalamic and limbic dopamine, noradrenaline, melanocortin, and oxytocin, and inhibited by serotonin, cerebral opioids, and endocannabinoids. Based on the patient's bipolar disorder, the mechanism of action of ECT and the observation of ECT effectiveness on her PGAD, we hypothesize the following: (i) bipolar disorder led to central hyperactive dopamine release, an important component in the pathophysiology of her PGAD; (ii) central serotonin deficiency after selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) withdrawal resulted in a lack of inhibition of sexual excitement; (iii) ECT resulted in lowering of the hyperstimulated central dopamine release; and (iv) ECT led to an increase in sexual inhibition by stimulating serotonin activity. Further research in the central control of sexual arousal is needed.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cyril C Grueter
Full Text Available Humans are unique among primates for not only engaging in same-sex sexual acts, but also forming homosexual pair bonds. To shed light on the evolutionary origins of homosexuality, data on the occurrence and contexts of same-sex behavior from nonhuman primates may be of particular significance. Homosexual behavior involving females is poorly researched in most primate taxa, exceptions being Japanese macaques, rhesus macaques, Hanuman langurs and bonobos. We present data on homosexual behavior in female mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes (Rwanda and test four functional hypotheses, namely reconciliation, affiliation, dominance expression and sexual arousal. Homosexual interactions between females involved both ventro-dorsal and ventro-ventral copulations accompanied by vocalizations and courtship displays. The only sociosexual hypothesis that received partial empirical support is the social status hypothesis, i.e., that mounting reaffirms the dominance hierarchy. There is also some limited evidence that same-sex behavior reflects an overall state of arousal or is triggered via a 'pornographic' effect. An adaptive function of female homosexual behavior is not readily apparent, and we tentatively conclude (until a more rigorous test becomes available that it may simply be related to sexual gratification or that it is an evolutionary by-product of an adaptation.
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Grueter, Cyril C; Stoinski, Tara S
2016-01-01
Humans are unique among primates for not only engaging in same-sex sexual acts, but also forming homosexual pair bonds. To shed light on the evolutionary origins of homosexuality, data on the occurrence and contexts of same-sex behavior from nonhuman primates may be of particular significance. Homosexual behavior involving females is poorly researched in most primate taxa, exceptions being Japanese macaques, rhesus macaques, Hanuman langurs and bonobos. We present data on homosexual behavior in female mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes (Rwanda) and test four functional hypotheses, namely reconciliation, affiliation, dominance expression and sexual arousal. Homosexual interactions between females involved both ventro-dorsal and ventro-ventral copulations accompanied by vocalizations and courtship displays. The only sociosexual hypothesis that received partial empirical support is the social status hypothesis, i.e., that mounting reaffirms the dominance hierarchy. There is also some limited evidence that same-sex behavior reflects an overall state of arousal or is triggered via a 'pornographic' effect. An adaptive function of female homosexual behavior is not readily apparent, and we tentatively conclude (until a more rigorous test becomes available) that it may simply be related to sexual gratification or that it is an evolutionary by-product of an adaptation.
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Dynamics of large-scale brain activity in normal arousal states and epileptic seizures
Robinson, P. A.; Rennie, C. J.; Rowe, D. L.
2002-04-01
Links between electroencephalograms (EEGs) and underlying aspects of neurophysiology and anatomy are poorly understood. Here a nonlinear continuum model of large-scale brain electrical activity is used to analyze arousal states and their stability and nonlinear dynamics for physiologically realistic parameters. A simple ordered arousal sequence in a reduced parameter space is inferred and found to be consistent with experimentally determined parameters of waking states. Instabilities arise at spectral peaks of the major clinically observed EEG rhythms-mainly slow wave, delta, theta, alpha, and sleep spindle-with each instability zone lying near its most common experimental precursor arousal states in the reduced space. Theta, alpha, and spindle instabilities evolve toward low-dimensional nonlinear limit cycles that correspond closely to EEGs of petit mal seizures for theta instability, and grand mal seizures for the other types. Nonlinear stimulus-induced entrainment and seizures are also seen, EEG spectra and potentials evoked by stimuli are reproduced, and numerous other points of experimental agreement are found. Inverse modeling enables physiological parameters underlying observed EEGs to be determined by a new, noninvasive route. This model thus provides a single, powerful framework for quantitative understanding of a wide variety of brain phenomena.
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Classical conditioning of sexual response in women: a replication study
Both, Stephanie; Brauer, Marieke; Laan, Ellen
2011-01-01
According to incentive motivation models, sexual stimuli play a crucial role in eliciting sexual arousal, desire, and behavior. Therefore, it seems highly valuable to investigate the process through which stimuli acquire motivational value. Although many theories of human sexual behavior assume that
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Kouchaki, Maryam; Wareham, Justin
2015-03-01
Across 2 studies, we investigated the ethical consequences of physiological responses to social exclusion. In Study 1, participants who were socially excluded were more likely to engage in unethical behavior to make money and the level of physiological arousal experienced during exclusion--measured using galvanic skin response--mediated the effects of exclusion on unethical behavior. Likewise, in Study 2, results from a sample of supervisor-subordinate dyads revealed a positive relationship between experience of workplace ostracism and unethical behaviors as rated by the immediate supervisors. This relationship was mediated by employees' reports of experienced physiological arousal. Together, the results of these studies demonstrate that physiological arousal accompanies social exclusion and provides an explanatory mechanism for the increased unethical behavior in both samples. Theoretical implications of these findings for research on ethical behavior and social exclusion in the workplace are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.
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Oh, Seok-Kyun; Kim, Gwang-Won; Yang, Jong-Chul; Kim, Seok-Kwun; Kang, Heoung-Keun
2012-01-01
Objective This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to contrast the differential brain activation patterns in response to visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures in male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals who underwent a sex reassignment surgery. Materials and Methods A total of nine healthy MTF transsexuals after a sex reassignment surgery underwent fMRI on a 3.0 Tesla MR Scanner. The brain activation patterns were induced by visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures. Results The sex hormone levels of the postoperative MTF transsexuals were in the normal range of healthy heterosexual females. The brain areas, which were activated by viewing male nude pictures when compared with viewing female nude pictures, included predominantly the cerebellum, hippocampus, putamen, anterior cingulate gyrus, head of caudate nucleus, amygdala, midbrain, thalamus, insula, and body of caudate nucleus. On the other hand, brain activation induced by viewing female nude pictures was predominantly observed in the hypothalamus and the septal area. Conclusion Our findings suggest that distinct brain activation patterns associated with visual sexual arousal in postoperative MTF transsexuals reflect their sexual orientation to males. PMID:22563262
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[Light therapy as a treatment for sexual dysfunctions--beyond a pilot study].
Bossini, Letizia; Caterini, Claudia; Koukouna, Despoina; Casolaro, Ilaria; Roggi, Monica; Di Volo, Silvia; Fargnoli, Francesco; Ponchietti, Roberto; Benbow, Jim; Fagiolini, Andrea
2013-01-01
Seasonal trends were demonstrated in reproduction and sexual activity. Through the secretion ofmelatonin the pineal gland plays an important role in the neuroendocrine control of sexual function and reproductive physiology. We hypothesized that inhibition of the pineal gland activity through a light treatment may favorably affect sexual function. We recruited 24 subjects with a diagnosis of hypoactive sexual desire disorder and/or primary sexual arousal disorder. The subjects were randomly assigned to either active light treatment (ALT) or placebo light treatment (L-PBO). Participants were assessed during the first evaluation and after 2 weeks of treatment, using the Structured Clinical Interview for Sexual Disorders DSM-IV (SCID-S) and a self-administered rating scale of the level of sexual satisfaction (1 to 10). Repeated ANOVA measures were performed to compare the two groups of patients. Post-hoc analysis was performed by Holm-Sidak test for repeated comparisons. Results. At baseline the two groups were comparable. After 2 weeks the group treated with Light Therapy showed a significant improvement in sexual satisfaction, about 3 times higher than the group that received placebo, while no significant improvement was observed in the group L-PBO. Conclusions. Our results confirm a potentially beneficial effect of Light Therapy on primary sexual dysfunction. In the future, we propose to correlate clinical findings with testosterone levels pre/post treatment.
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Altered male physiologic function after surgery for prostate cancer: couple perspective
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Matvey Tsivian
2009-12-01
Full Text Available Purpose: Both the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa and the physiologic outcomes of surgical treatment impact the male’s psychological sphere. However, current research advocates a refocusing of outcomes directed to the PCa “couple”. Herein we acquire insight into perspective and concordance regarding male physiological function from the standpoint of a couple recovering from PCa surgery. Materials and methods: Couples whereby the male partner had undergone primary surgical treatment for PCa were mailed a Retrospective Sexual Survey (RSS packet consisting of male and female partner questionnaires. RSS questions surveyed physiological changes in libido, foreplay, erection and arousal, orgasm and ejaculation in addition to perceived psychological impact. Patients’ and partners’ scores were evaluated to determine the concordance of both individual items as well as domain sums. Results: Twenty-eight couples completed the questionnaires. Only about 40% of men and women were happy with their levels of sexual interest with 82% concordance. Urine loss during orgasm was reported by 43% of men; the majority of participants were bothered by it. Ejaculation changes were observed by 96% of men (concordance 96% with most reporting anejaculation. A change in orgasm experience was noted by 86% of men (and 36% of their female partners, p < 0.0001. Despite the change, the majority of men and women reported being satisfied with their ability to climax. Conclusion: Our results indicate that patients and their female partners may interpret differently the same physiological outcomes of PCa surgery. This information could be useful to better counsel the PCa couple and help patients and partners adjust after surgery.
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Human tears contain a chemosignal.
Gelstein, Shani; Yeshurun, Yaara; Rozenkrantz, Liron; Shushan, Sagit; Frumin, Idan; Roth, Yehudah; Sobel, Noam
2011-01-14
Emotional tearing is a poorly understood behavior that is considered uniquely human. In mice, tears serve as a chemosignal. We therefore hypothesized that human tears may similarly serve a chemosignaling function. We found that merely sniffing negative-emotion-related odorless tears obtained from women donors induced reductions in sexual appeal attributed by men to pictures of women's faces. Moreover, after sniffing such tears, men experienced reduced self-rated sexual arousal, reduced physiological measures of arousal, and reduced levels of testosterone. Finally, functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that sniffing women's tears selectively reduced activity in brain substrates of sexual arousal in men.
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Do East Asian and Euro-Canadian women differ in sexual psychophysiology research participation?
Woo, Jane S T; Brotto, Lori A; Yule, Morag A
2010-07-01
Evidence from studies of ethnic differences in sexual conservativeness and Papanicolaou (Pap) testing behaviors suggests that there may be culture-linked differences in rates of participation in physically invasive sexuality studies, resulting in volunteer bias. The effects of ethnicity and acculturation on participation in female psychophysiological sexual arousal research were investigated in a sample of Euro-Canadian (n = 50) and East Asian (n = 58) women. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires and were given either course credits or $10 for their participation. Participants were then informed about the opportunity to participate in a second phase of the study, which involved psychophysiological sexual arousal testing and which was completely optional. Contrary to expectations, the results showed that the East Asian women were more likely to participate in Phase 2 than the Euro-Canadian women. Among the East Asian women, greater heritage acculturation and lower mainstream acculturation predicted a lower likelihood of Phase 2 participation. The findings suggest the need to be wary of overgeneralizing female psychophysiological sexual arousal research results and may have implications for improving Pap testing behaviors in East Asian women.
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Gore, Jane B; Krebs, Desiree L; Parent, Marise B
2006-06-01
Emotional arousal enhances memory, and this memory-enhancing effect may involve neurochemicals released by arousal, such as glucose and cortisol. Physiological consequences of arousal change with age, and these changes may contribute to age-related memory decline. The present study examined whether emotionally arousing pictures would affect glucose and cortisol levels and enhance memory in young and older adults. Blood glucose and salivary cortisol were measured once before and six times after young and old adults viewed either 60 highly arousing or 60 relatively neutral pictures. Recall for the stimuli was measured 75 min later. The results indicated that recall was impaired in older adults. Arousal as measured by self-report enhanced recall in both young and older adults. However, arousal did not affect glucose or cortisol levels in either group. These findings demonstrate that changes in blood glucose or salivary cortisol levels are not necessary for arousal to enhance memory.
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[Physiology and physiopathology of sexuality].
Cuzin, Béatrice
2016-01-01
From desire to orgasm, sexuality, in women and men, is underpinned by a complex organic, psychological and emotional function. Sexual dysfunction encompasses diverse aetiologies, including chronic diseases and iatrogenesis resulting from medication or surgery. The effects of a chronic disease can have an impact on all phases of the sexual response. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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Benetti-Pinto, Cristina Laguna; Soares, Patrícia Magda; Giraldo, Helena Patrícia Donovan; Yela, Daniela Angerame
2015-03-01
Women with premature ovarian failure (POF) often manifest complaints involving different aspects of sexual function (SF), regardless of using hormone therapy. SF involves a complex interaction between physical, psychological, and sociocultural aspects. There are doubts about the impact of different complaints on the global context of SF of women with POF. To evaluate the percentage of influence of each of the sexuality domains on the SF in women with POF. Cross-sectional study with 80 women with POF, matched by age to 80 women with normal gonadal function. We evaluated SF through the "Female Sexual Function Index" (FSFI), a comparison between the POF and control groups using the Mann-Whitney test. Component exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the proportional influence of each domain on the composition of the overall SF for women in the POF group. SF was evaluated using FSFI. Exploratory Factor Analysis for components was used to evaluate the role of each domain on the SF of women with POF. The FSFI score was significantly worse for women with POF, with a decrease in arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and dyspareunia. Exploratory factor analysis of SF showed that the domain with greater influence in the SF was arousal, followed by desire, together accounting for 41% of the FSFI. The domains with less influence were dyspareunia and lubrication, which together accounted for 25% of the FSFI. Women with POF have impaired SF, determined mainly by changes in arousal and desire. Aspects related to lubrication and dyspareunia complaints have lower determination coefficient in SF. These results are important in adapting the approach of sexual disorders in this group of women. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Sexual dysfunction, depression, and the impact of antidepressants.
Kennedy, Sidney H; Rizvi, Sakina
2009-04-01
Sexual dysfunction is a common symptom of depression. Although decreased libido is most often reported, difficulties with arousal, resulting in vaginal dryness in women and erectile dysfunction in men, and absent or delayed orgasm are also prevalent. Sexual dysfunction is also a frequent adverse effect of treatment with most antidepressants and is one of the predominant reasons for premature drug discontinuation. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the most widely prescribed antidepressants and have significant effects on arousal and orgasm compared with antidepressants that target norepinephrine, dopamine, and melatonin systems. The availability of an antidepressant that does not cause or exacerbate sexual dysfunction represents an advance in pharmacotherapy for mood disorders and should reduce treatment noncompliance and decrease the need for switching antidepressants or adding antidotes. The purpose of this review was to provide an update on the prevalence, psychobiology, and relative adverse effect burden of sexual dysfunction associated with different antidepressants.
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Sexual Excitability and Dysfunctional Coping Determine Cybersex Addiction in Homosexual Males.
Laier, Christian; Pekal, Jaro; Brand, Matthias
2015-10-01
Cybersex addiction (CA) has been mostly investigated in heterosexual males. Recent findings have demonstrated an association between CA severity and indicators of sexual excitability, and that coping by sexual behaviors mediated the relationship between sexual excitability and CA symptoms. The aim of this study was to test this mediation in a sample of homosexual males. Seventy-one homosexual males were surveyed online. Questionnaires assessed symptoms of CA, sensitivity to sexual excitation, pornography use motivation, problematic sexual behavior, psychological symptoms, and sexual behaviors in real life and online. Moreover, participants viewed pornographic videos and indicated their sexual arousal before and after the video presentation. Results showed strong correlations between CA symptoms and indicators of sexual arousal and sexual excitability, coping by sexual behaviors, and psychological symptoms. CA was not associated with offline sexual behaviors and weekly cybersex use time. Coping by sexual behaviors partially mediated the relationship between sexual excitability and CA. The results are comparable with those reported for heterosexual males and females in previous studies and are discussed against the background of theoretical assumptions of CA, which highlight the role of positive and negative reinforcement due to cybersex use.
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Sexual Well-Being in Older Women: The Relevance of Sexual Excitation and Sexual Inhibition.
Bell, Suzanne; Reissing, Elke D
2017-01-01
The aim of this study was to use the dual control model of sexual response (DCM) to investigate variation in sexual well-being among women 50 years of age and older. Data from 185 women 50 years of age and older (M = 59.46, SD = 6.96) were used to examine the relationships between sexual excitation (SE) and sexual inhibition (SI) and their lower-order factors to indicators of sexual well-being (i.e., sexual functioning, satisfaction, distress, frequency of sexual activity, and breadth of sexual behavior). Possible moderating factors were also explored. Independently, SE and SI were associated with the majority of the indicators of sexual well-being, and the directions of associations were consistent with the tenets of the DCM. SE and SI lower-order factors were significant predictors of sexual function, satisfaction, and frequency of sexual activity. Sexual distress was predicted more strongly by SI factors and breadth of sexual behavior by one SE lower-order factor (arousability). Partner physical and mental health and participant's own mental health were identified as moderating variables of these associations. Findings of this study are discussed considering the contribution of the DCM to understanding the role of diversity in older women's sexual well-being.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Par eBjalkebring
2015-06-01
Full Text Available Older adults have been shown to describe their happiness as lower in arousal when compared to younger adults. In addition, older adults prefer low arousal positive emotions over high arousal positive emotions in their daily lives. We experimentally investigated whether or not changing a few words in the description of happiness could influence a person’s rating of their happiness. We randomly assigned 193 participants, aged 22-92 years, to one of three conditions (high arousal, low arousal, or control. In line with previous findings, we found that older participants rated their happiness lower when framed as high in arousal (i.e., ecstatic, to be bursting with positive emotions and rated their happiness higher when framed as low in arousal (i.e., satisfied, to have a life filled with positive emotions. Younger adults remained uninfluenced by the manipulation. Our study demonstrates that arousal is essential to understanding ratings of happiness, and gives support to the notion that there are age differences in the preference for arousal.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yati Afiyanti
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Objective: This study aims to describe the factors affecting successful nursing care intervention on sexuality. Methods: A one-group pre- and post-test design was used. Fifty-three cervical cancer survivors and their spouses were administered with nursing care intervention on sexuality in three sessions and evaluated after 6 weeks. Results: Sexual intervention reduced dyspareunia symptoms, improved vaginal lubrication, improved sexual satisfaction, and enhanced sexual arousal, sexual desire, and orgasm among cancer survivors and their spouses. The other influencing factors also simultaneously contributed to the success of nursing care intervention. Conclusions: Nursing care intervention on sexuality could be a part of supportive nursing care and an important aspect in standard nursing care for cancer patients in Indonesia.
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Satiation therapy: a procedure for reducing deviant sexual arousal.
Marshall, W L
1979-01-01
Two single-case experiments demonstrated the efficacy of satiation therapy with adult males who had long-standing deviant sexual interests. The procedure involves the pairing of prolonged masturbation (1 hour) with the verbalization by the patient of his deviant sexual fantasies and in both cases the designs permitted the attribution of control over aberrant responding to the satiation therapy. The results are discussed in terms of the possible active ingredients of the procedure. PMID:511807
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Perceiving blocks of emotional pictures and sounds:Effects on physiological variables
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Anne-Marie eBrouwer
2013-06-01
Full Text Available Most studies on physiological effects of emotion inducing images and sounds examine stimulus locked variables reflecting a state of at most a few seconds. We here aimed to induce longer lasting emotional states using blocks of repetitive visual, auditory and bimodal stimuli corresponding to specific valence and arousal levels. The duration of these blocks enabled us to reliably measure heart rate variability as a possible indicator of arousal. In addition, heart rate and skin conductance were determined without taking stimulus timing into account. Heart rate was higher for pleasant and low arousal stimuli compared to unpleasant and high arousal stimuli. Heart rate variability and skin conductance increased with arousal. Effects of valence and arousal on cardiovascular measures habituated or remained the same over 2-minute intervals whereas the arousal effect on skin conductance increased. We did not find any effect of stimulus modality. Our results indicate that blocks of images and sounds of specific valence and arousal levels consistently influence different physiological parameters. These parameters need not be stimulus locked. We found no evidence for differences in emotion induction between visual and auditory stimuli, nor did we find bimodal stimuli to be more potent than unimodal stimuli. The latter could be (partly due to the fact that our bimodal stimuli were not optimally congruent.
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Kuniecki, Michał; Wołoszyn, Kinga; Domagalik, Aleksandra; Pilarczyk, Joanna
2018-05-01
Processing of emotional visual information engages cognitive functions and induces arousal. We aimed to examine the modulatory role of emotional valence on brain activations linked to the processing of visual information and those linked to arousal. Participants were scanned and their pupil size was measured while viewing negative and neutral images. The visual noise was added to the images in various proportions to parametrically manipulate the amount of visual information. Pupil size was used as an index of physiological arousal. We show that arousal induced by the negative images, as compared to the neutral ones, is primarily related to greater amygdala activity while increasing visibility of negative content to enhanced activity in the lateral occipital complex (LOC). We argue that more intense visual processing of negative scenes can occur irrespective of the level of arousal. It may suggest that higher areas of the visual stream are fine-tuned to process emotionally relevant objects. Both arousal and processing of emotional visual information modulated activity within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Overlapping activations within the vmPFC may reflect the integration of these aspects of emotional processing. Additionally, we show that emotionally-evoked pupil dilations are related to activations in the amygdala, vmPFC, and LOC.
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Sexual Self-Schema Scale for Women-Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version.
Nowosielski, Krzysztof; Jankowski, Konrad S; Kowalczyk, Robert; Kurpisz, Jacek; Normantowicz-Zakrzewska, Małgorzata; Krasowska, Aleksandra
2018-06-01
The sexual self-schema is a part of a broader concept of the self that is believed to be crucial for intrapersonal and interpersonal sexual relationships. To develop and perform psychometric validation of the Polish version of the Sexual Self-Schema Scale for Women (SSSS-W-PL). 561 women 18 to 55 years old were included in the final analysis. Linguistic validation was performed in 4 steps in line with the MAPI Institute guidelines. Convergent validity was calculated using the Pearson r product-moment coefficient between different measures of sexuality (attitudes and experience, behavior, arousal, romantic relationship) and SSSS-W-PL total and factor scores. To test discriminant validity, we applied hierarchical regression analyses predicting the number of lifetime sexual partners, self-rating as a sexual person (1 item, "I feel sexually attractive"; on a 5-point Likert scale), and arousability, with independent variables being extraversion (Ten-Item Personality Inventory), self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), and the SSSS-W-PL (total and factor scores). Sexual self-schema was measured by the SSSS-W-PL, whereas arousability was measured by the arousal/excitement scale of the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire. The mean age of the study population was 29.0 ± 7.6 years. The final scale consisted of 24 adjectives grouped within 4 factors: romantic, passionate, direct, and embarrassed. The 4-factor model accounted for 39% of the variance. The Cronbach α was 0.74 for the SSSS-W-PL total score and 0.61 to 0.84 for individual factors. Test-retest reliability of the scale after 2- to 8-week intervals was 0.87 (95% CI = 0.82-0.86, P Self-Schema Scale for Women-Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version. Sex Med 2018;6:131-142. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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People, clothing, music, and arousal as contextual retrieval cues in verbal memory.
Standing, Lionel G; Bobbitt, Kristin E; Boisvert, Kathryn L; Dayholos, Kathy N; Gagnon, Anne M
2008-10-01
Four experiments (N = 164) on context-dependent memory were performed to explore the effects on verbal memory of incidental cues during the test session which replicated specific features of the learning session. These features involved (1) bystanders, (2) the clothing of the experimenter, (3) background music, and (4) the arousal level of the subject. Social contextual cues (bystanders or experimenter clothing) improved verbal recall or recognition. However, recall decreased when the contextual cue was a different stimulus taken from the same conceptual category (piano music by Chopin) that was heard during learning. Memory was unaffected by congruent internal cues, produced by the same physiological arousal level (low, moderate, or high heart rate) during the learning and test sessions. However, recall increased with the level of arousal across the three congruent conditions. The results emphasize the effectiveness as retrieval cues of stimuli which are socially salient, concrete, and external.
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Sexuality in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a pilot study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jucilene Sales da Paixão Silva
2010-12-01
Full Text Available Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the sexual behavior of women with polycystic ovary syndrome and the relationship between sexual behavior and the clinical parameters related to this syndrome (obesity, hirsutism and menstrual irregularities. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out involving 48 women with polycystic ovary syndrome. The evaluation was based on the complaints reported by the women with particular emphasis on sexual satisfaction, the presence of a sexual partner, phases of the sexual response cycle (desire, arousal, orgasm and resolution phases, sexual frequency, practice of masturbation, evaluation of less usual sexual habits, degree of intimacy and the quality of communication in the women’s involvement with their sexual partner. The variables of sexual behavior (sexual satisfaction, masturbation, sexual fantasies, frequency of desire, arousal and orgasm were compared with three clinical parameters: menstrual cycle, hirsutism and body mass index (BMI. Results: The sexual initiation, ways of expressing sexuality, communication and intimacy with partner and sexual satisfaction were not influenced by the clinical aspects of the syndrome. With respect to association of polycystic ovary syndrome clinical parameters with sexual behavior, a statistically significant correlation was found with the menstrual cycle. Conclusion: The absence of menstruation affected sexual interest in activities not involving the partner, thus increasing the frequency of masturbation.
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Attribution of Arousal as a Mediator of the Effectiveness of Fear-Arousing Communications.
Schwarz, Norbert; And Others
Characteristics of the situation in which a fear-arousing communication is received affect the effectiveness of the communication. The influence of situational factors affecting a recipient's interpretation of the arousal induced by communication were investigated with smokers (N=37) who were exposed to a fear-arousing anti-smoking movie. Prior to…
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Pascoal, Patrícia Monteiro; Cardoso, Daniel; Henriques, Rui
2015-04-01
Little attention has been paid to distress in sexual functioning or the sexual satisfaction of people who practice BDSM (Bondage and Discipline, Domination and Submission, Sadism and Masochism). The purpose of this study was to describe sociodemographic characteristics and BDSM practices and compare BDSM practitioners' sexual outcomes (in BDSM and non-BDSM contexts). A convenience sample of 68 respondents completed an online survey that used a participatory research framework. Cronbach's alpha and average inter-item correlations assessed scale reliability, and the Wilcoxon paired samples test compared the total scores between BDSM and non-BDSM contexts separately for men and women. Open-ended questions about BDSM sexual practices were coded using a preexisting thematic tree. We used self-reported demographic factors, including age at the onset of BDSM interest, age at first BDSM experience, and favorite and most frequent BDSM practices. The Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction measured the amount of sexual distress, including low desire, arousal, maintaining arousal, premature orgasm, and anorgasmia. The participants had an average age of 33.15 years old and were highly educated and waited 6 years after becoming interested in BDSM to act on their interests. The practices in which the participants most frequently engaged did not coincide with the practices in which they were most interested and were overwhelmingly conducted at home. Comparisons between genders in terms of distress in sexual functioning in BDSM and non-BDSM contexts demonstrate that, with the exception of maintaining arousal, we found distress in sexual functioning to be statistically the same in BDSM and non-BDSM contexts for women. For men, we found that distress in sexual functioning, with the exception of premature orgasm and anorgasmia, was statistically significantly lower in the BDSM context. There were no differences in sexual satisfaction between BDSM and non-BDSM contexts for men or women
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Sexual function in women from infertile couples and in women seeking surgical sterilization.
Hentschel, Heitor; Alberton, Daniele Lima; Sawdy, Robert John; Capp, Edison; Goldim, José Roberto; Passos, Eduardo Pandolfi
2008-01-01
The purpose of this study was to compare sexual function between women of infertile couples (AR) and women seeking tubal ligation (TL). Women who attended Setor de Infertilidade do Serviço de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia do Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) or the Serviço de Orientação e Planejamento Familiar (SERPLAN) completed the Female Sexual Function Index, a questionnaire about sexual activity in the last 4 weeks. Scored data were collected on six different domains: desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and discomfort/pain. The greatest positive correlation in the TL group was between orgasm and sexual satisfaction (0.798), and in group AR between desire and arousal (0.627). Infertile women and fertile women who want to undergo surgical sterilization have similar sexual satisfaction scores.
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Disgust and sexual problems : Theoretical conceptualization and case illustrations
de Jong, Peter J.; van Lankveld, Jacques; Elgersma, Hermien J.; Borg, Charmaine
There is increasing consensus that the present DSM IV-TR (2000) sexual disorders classification, of desire, arousal, orgasm, and pain is unsatisfactory. This differentiation seems neither adequate as a lead for understanding the mechanisms involved in these sexual problems nor appropriate as a guide
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A P300 event related potential technique for assessment of sexually oriented interest.
Vardi, Yoram; Volos, Michal; Sprecher, Elliot; Granovsky, Yelena; Gruenwald, Ilan; Yarnitsky, David
2006-12-01
Despite all of the modern, sophisticated tests that exist for diagnosing and assessing male and female sexual disorders, to our knowledge there is no objective psychophysiological test to evaluate sexual arousal and interest. We provide preliminary data showing a decrease in auditory P300 wave amplitude during exposure to sexually explicit video clips and a significant correlation between the auditory P300 amplitude decrease and self-reported scores of sexual arousal and interest in the clips. A total of 30 healthy subjects were exposed to several blocks of auditory stimuli administered using an oddball paradigm. Baseline auditory P300 amplitudes were obtained and auditory stimuli were then delivered while viewing visual clips with 3 types of content, including sport, scenery and sex. Auditory P300 amplitude significantly decreased during viewing clips of all contents. Viewing sexual content clips caused a maximal decrease in P300 amplitude (p <0.0001). In addition, a high correlation was found between the amplitude decrease and scores on the sexual arousal questionnaire regarding the viewed clips (r = 0.61, p <0.001). In addition, the P300 amplitude decrease was significantly related to the sexual interest score (r = 0.37, p = 0.042) but not to interest in clips of nonsexual content. The change in auditory P300 amplitude during exposure to visual stimuli with sexual context seems to be an objective measure of subject sexual interest. This method might be applied to assess therapeutic intervention and as a diagnostic tool for assessing disorders of impaired libido or psychogenic sexual dysfunction.
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Sexual function of pregnant women in the third trimester | Erbil ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
35th and 36th and higher gestational weeks of pregnancy were as follows: sexual desire scores, 2.50, 2.77 and 2.40; sexual arousal scores, 2.26, 2.72 and 1.69; lubrication scores, 2.61, 3.42 and 1.97; orgasm scores, 2.51, 2.85 and 1.78; sexual ...
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Incidence of sexual dysfunction: a prospective survey in Ghanaian females
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Amidu Nafiu
2010-09-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Sexuality is a complex phenomenon that is being influenced by psychological as well as physiological factors. Its dysfunction includes desire, arousal, orgasmic and sex pain disorders. The present study aimed to assess the incidence of sexual dysfunction (SD and related risk factors in a cohort of Ghanaian women. Method The Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS was administered to 400 healthy women between 18 and 58 years old (mean +/- SD: 30.1 +/- 7.9 domiciled in the Kumasi metropolis. Results The response rate was 75.3% after 99 were excluded. Of the remaining 301 women, 50% were engaged in exercise, 26.7% indulge in alcoholic beverages and only 2% were smokers. A total of 62.1% of the women had attained high education, whilst, 28.9% were married. After logistic regression analysis, alcohol emerged (OR: 2.0; CI: 1.0 - 3.8; p = 0.04 as the main risk factor for SD. The overall prevalence of SD in these subjects was 72.8%. Severe difficulties with sexual function were identified in 3.3% of the studied population. The most prevalent areas of difficulty were anorgasmia (72.4%, sexual infrequency (71.4%, dissatisfaction (77.7%, vaginismus (68.1%, avoidance of sexual intercourse (62.5%, non-sensuality (61.5% and non-communication (54.2%. Whereas 8% had severe difficulties with anorgasmia, only 6% had severe difficulties with vaginismus. Conclusion SD affects more than 70% of Ghanaian women who are sexually active. Alcohol significantly influences sexual activity.
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Assessment of the Effects of Perineoplasty on Female Sexual Function
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cihan İnan
2015-09-01
Full Text Available ackground: The scar tissue formed by episiotomy during vaginal delivery, and the related pain, is very frequent. The change in the normal anatomy can cause cosmetic and physiologic problems. It can affect and cause deterioration in sexual functions. Therefore, making the right diagnosis and applying the right surgical procedures are very important. Aims: Our aim was to examine the effect of the perineoplasty operation on the sexual dysfunctions that present due to vaginal delivery. Study Design: Self-controlled study. Methods: Forty patients, who attended our clinic between April 2012 and May 2013, and who were between the ages of 20 and 50 years, were included in the study. The patients had complaints of scar tissue in the perineum and various sexual dysfunctions after vaginal delivery, and they were suitable for perineoplasty. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI questionnaire was applied to the patients before and 6 months after the operation, and the results were compared. Results: After the perineoplasty operation, there was a statistically significant improvement in the patients in the domains of sexual desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction (p<0.005. However, there was no significant improvement in the feeling of pain during sexual intercourse (p=0.184. The mean±SD total FSFI score increased significantly after the operation (p<0.005. Conclusion: The sexual dysfunctions that develop due to perineal damage during vaginal delivery can benefit significantly from the perineoplasty operation if the indications are correct. However, vaginal perineoplasty did not provide an improvement in dyspareunia.
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Incidence of sexual dysfunction: a prospective survey in Ghanaian females
2010-01-01
Background Sexuality is a complex phenomenon that is being influenced by psychological as well as physiological factors. Its dysfunction includes desire, arousal, orgasmic and sex pain disorders. The present study aimed to assess the incidence of sexual dysfunction (SD) and related risk factors in a cohort of Ghanaian women. Method The Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS) was administered to 400 healthy women between 18 and 58 years old (mean +/- SD: 30.1 +/- 7.9) domiciled in the Kumasi metropolis. Results The response rate was 75.3% after 99 were excluded. Of the remaining 301 women, 50% were engaged in exercise, 26.7% indulge in alcoholic beverages and only 2% were smokers. A total of 62.1% of the women had attained high education, whilst, 28.9% were married. After logistic regression analysis, alcohol emerged (OR: 2.0; CI: 1.0 - 3.8; p = 0.04) as the main risk factor for SD. The overall prevalence of SD in these subjects was 72.8%. Severe difficulties with sexual function were identified in 3.3% of the studied population. The most prevalent areas of difficulty were anorgasmia (72.4%), sexual infrequency (71.4%), dissatisfaction (77.7%), vaginismus (68.1%), avoidance of sexual intercourse (62.5%), non-sensuality (61.5%) and non-communication (54.2%). Whereas 8% had severe difficulties with anorgasmia, only 6% had severe difficulties with vaginismus. Conclusion SD affects more than 70% of Ghanaian women who are sexually active. Alcohol significantly influences sexual activity. PMID:20809943
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Erdmann, G; Janke, W
1978-01-01
This study investigated the interaction between physiological arousal and situation-derived cognitions in the determination of feeling states that is proposed in Schachter's theory of emotions. The degree of bodily arousal was varied by disguised oral administration of a placebo or the sympathicomimetic agent ephedrine. The situational circumstances were varied by instructions offering cues for (a) no emotions ('neutral' control), or the feeling states called (b) 'anger', (c) 'happiness', and (d) anxiety'. The subjects were 72 male students. The dependent variables were blood pressure, heart rate, a list of bodily symptoms, and an adjective check list. The results within the 'anger' and 'happiness' condition were in accordance with Schachter's theory: depending on the type of situation, ephedrine-induced arousal either decreased or increased positive descriptions of mood. The emotional effects of the 'anxiety' condition, however, were independent of the drug-induced arousal level. Contrary to Schachter's theory, anxiety reactions occured also in a state of low physiological arousal and did not increase with increasing arousal.
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The tell-tale heart: physiological reactivity during resolution of ambiguity in youth anxiety.
Rozenman, Michelle; Vreeland, Allison; Iglesias, Marisela; Mendez, Melissa; Piacentini, John
2018-03-01
In the past decade, cognitive biases and physiological arousal have each been proposed as mechanisms through which paediatric anxiety develops and is maintained over time. Preliminary studies have found associations between anxious interpretations of ambiguity, physiological arousal, and avoidance, supporting theories that link cognition, psychophysiology, and behaviour. However, little is known about the relationship between youths' resolutions of ambiguity and physiological arousal during acute stress. Such information may have important clinical implications for use of verbal self-regulation strategies and cognitive restructuring during treatments for paediatric anxiety. In this brief report, we present findings suggesting that anxious, but not typically developing, youth select avoidant goals via non-threatening resolution of ambiguity during a stressor, and that this resolution of ambiguity is accompanied by physiological reactivity (heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia). We propose future empirical research on the interplay between interpretation bias, psychophysiology, and child anxiety, as well as clinical implications.
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Effects of vaginal discharge on female sexual function.
Gungor, Ayse N C; Uludag, Aysegul; Sahin, Melih; Gencer, Meryem; Uysal, Ahmet
2014-01-01
To assess the effects of vaginal discharge on female sexual dysfunction (FSD) by using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). In a study at a university hospital in Canakkale, Turkey, women affected by vaginal discharge and age-matched healthy control women were recruited between January and December 2012. Women were grouped in accordance with their vaginal discharge complaints and each participant completed the FSFI questionnaire. A total of 114 women were included in the study. Women in the first group (n=58) had no vaginal discharge or had physiologic vaginal discharge, those in the second group (n=29) had abnormal vaginal discharge with itching, and those in the third group (n=27) had abnormal vaginal discharge without itching. Compared with the first group, women in the second and third groups had higher FSFI scores for desire, arousal, orgasm, and pain, in addition to higher overall FSFI scores. Women with genital malodor had significantly higher FSFI scores than patients without genital malodor (23.83 ± 5.07 vs 21.15 ± 4.78; P=0.008). Women with abnormal vaginal discharges were found to have better FSFI scores for some domains. This finding may be attributed to the adverse effects of sexual intercourse on vaginal infections. © 2013.
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Breukink, Stephanie O; Wouda, Jan C; Van Der Werf-Eldering, Marieke J; Van De Wiel, Harry B M; Bouma, Esther M C; Pierie, Jean Pierre-En; Wiggers, Theo; Meijerink, Jeroen W J H J; Weijmar Schultz, Willibrord C M
2009-04-01
The potential contribution of psychological and anatomical changes to sexual dysfunction in female patients following short-term preoperative radiotherapy (5 x 5 Gy) and total mesorectal excision (TME) is not clear. Aim. In this study we assessed female sexual dysfunction in patients who underwent radiotherapy and TME for rectal cancer. Genital arousal was assessed using vaginal videoplethysmography. Sexual functioning was examined in four patients who had rectal cancer and underwent radiotherapy and TME. All investigations were done at least 15 months after treatment. The results were compared with an age-matched group of 18 healthy women. The patients and healthy controls showed comparable changes in vaginal vasocongestion during sexual arousal, though three out of four patients showed a lower mean spectral tension (MST) of the vaginal pulse compared with healthy controls. Subjective sexual arousal was equivalent between the two groups. In this study the changes of genital and subjective sexual arousal after erotic stimulus condition between patients and healthy controls were not different, though lower MST of the vaginal pulse was found in three out of four patients compared with healthy women. Additional work, however, must be performed to clarify the mechanisms of sexual dysfunction following treatment of rectal cancer.
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Sexuality Following Radical Prostatectomy
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Fode, Mikkel; Serefoglu, Ege C; Albersen, Maarten
2017-01-01
incontinence in relation to sexual activity after surgery. This can present at the time of orgasm (ie, climacturia) or arise during arousal. In general, the problem subsides with time and pelvic floor training and tension penile loops can be used as treatments. Orgasmic disturbances after radical prostatectomy...
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Buttner, Alicia Phillips; Strasser, Rosemary
2014-01-01
Studies of contagious yawning have reported inconsistent findings regarding whether dogs exhibit this behavior and whether it is mediated by social-cognitive processes or the result of physiological arousal. We investigated why some dogs yawn in response to human yawns; particularly, whether these dogs are exceptional in their ability to understand human social cues or whether they were more physiologically aroused. Sixty shelter dogs were exposed to yawning and nonyawning control stimuli demonstrated by an unfamiliar human. We took salivary cortisol samples before and after testing to determine the role of arousal in yawn contagion. Dogs were tested on the object-choice task to assess their sensitivity for interpreting human social cues. We found that 12 dogs yawned only in response to human yawns (i.e., appeared to exhibit yawn contagion), though contagious yawning at the population level was not observed. Dogs that exhibited yawn contagion did not perform better on the object-choice task than other dogs, but their cortisol levels remained elevated after exposure to human yawning, whereas other dogs had reduced cortisol levels following yawning stimuli relative to their baseline levels. We interpret these findings as showing that human yawning, when presented in a stressful context, can further influence arousal in dogs, which then causes some to yawn. Although the precise social-cognitive mechanisms that underlie contagious yawning in dogs are still unclear, yawning between humans and dogs may involve some communicative function that is modulated by context and arousal.
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Brom, Mirte; Both, Stephanie; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip
2014-01-01
Many theories of human sexual behavior assume that sexual stimuli obtain arousing properties through associative learning processes. It is widely accepted that classical conditioning contributes to the etiology of both normal and maladaptive human behaviors. Despite the hypothesized importance of basic learning processes in sexual behavior, research on classical conditioning of the sexual response in humans is scarce. In the present paper, animal studies and studies in humans on the role of pavlovian conditioning on sexual responses are reviewed. Animal research shows robust, direct effects of conditioning processes on partner- and place preference. On the contrast, the empirical research with humans in this area is limited and earlier studies within this field are plagued by methodological confounds. Although recent experimental demonstrations of human sexual conditioning are neither numerous nor robust, sexual arousal showed to be conditionable in both men and women. The present paper serves to highlight the major empirical findings and to renew the insight in how stimuli can acquire sexually arousing value. Hereby also related neurobiological processes in reward learning are discussed. Finally, the connections between animal and human research on the conditionability of sexual responses are discussed, and suggestions for future directions in human research are given. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Rozenman, Michelle; Vreeland, Allison; Piacentini, John
2017-01-01
Cognitive bias and physiological arousal are two putative markers that may underlie youth anxiety. However, data on relationships between cognitive bias and arousal are limited, and typically do not include behavioral measurement of these constructs in order to tap real-time processes. We aimed to examine the relationship between performance-based cognitive bias and sympathetic arousal during stress in clinically anxious and typically-developing youth. The sample included children and adolescents ages 9 to 17 (Mean age=13.18, SD=2.60) who either met diagnostic criteria for primary generalized anxiety, social phobia, or separation anxiety (N=24) or healthy controls who had no history of psychopathology (N=22). Youth completed performance-based measures of attention and interpretation bias. Electrodermal activity was assessed while youth participated in the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C; Buske-Kirschbaum, Jobst, & Wustmans, 1997). A mixed models analysis indicated significant linear and non-linear changes in skin conductance, with similar slopes for both groups. Interpretation bias, but not attention bias, moderated the relationship between group status and sympathetic arousal during the TSST-C. Arousal trajectories did not differ for anxious and healthy control youth who exhibited high levels of threat interpretation bias. However, for youth who exhibited moderate and low levels of interpretation bias, the anxious group demonstrated greater arousal slopes than healthy control youth. Results provide initial evidence that the relationship between anxiety status and physiological arousal during stress may be moderated by level of interpretation bias for threat. These findings may implicate interpretation bias as a marker of sympathetic reactivity in youth. Implications for future research and limitations are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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Lifetime depression history and sexual function in women at midlife.
Cyranowski, Jill M; Bromberger, Joyce; Youk, Ada; Matthews, Karen; Kravitz, Howard M; Powell, Lynda H
2004-12-01
We examined the association between lifetime depression history and sexual function in a community-based sample of midlife women. Specifically, 914 women aged 42-52 who were participants in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation completed a self-report assessment of their sexual behaviors, sexual desire, sexual arousal, and sexual satisfaction over the past 6 months. On the basis of the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV , participants were categorized into 1 of 3 lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD) history groups: no MDD history, single episode MDD, and recurrent MDD. In line with previous reports, women with a history of recurrent MDD reported experiencing less frequent sexual arousal, less physical pleasure, and less emotional satisfaction within their current sexual relationships. Although the groups did not differ in their reported frequency of sexual desire or partnered sexual behaviors, lifetime depression history was associated with increased rates of self-stimulation (masturbation). Associations between lifetime depression history and lower levels of physical pleasure within partnered sexual relationships and higher rates of masturbation remained significant following control for current depressive symptoms, study site, marital status, psychotropic medication use, and lifetime history of anxiety or substance abuse/dependence disorder. Future research is needed to characterize the temporal and etiologic relationships among lifetime depressive disorder, current mood state, and sexual function in women across the lifespan.
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Death-Related versus Fond Memories of a Deceased Attachment Figure: Examining Emotional Arousal
Rochman, Daniel
2013-01-01
Grieving is infused by memories and emotions. In this study, bereaved participants recalled either death-related or fond memories of their loved ones. Their emotional arousal was examined via physiologic and voice analytic measures. Both death-related and fond memories generated an acoustic profile indicative of sadness (reflected by voice quality…
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Randolph, John F; Zheng, Huiyong; Avis, Nancy E; Greendale, Gail A; Harlow, Siobán D
2015-01-01
To determine whether reproductive hormones are related to sexual function during the menopausal transition. The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) is a multiethnic cohort study of the menopausal transition located at seven US sites. At baseline, the 3302 community-based participants, aged 42-52, had an intact uterus and at least one ovary and were not using exogenous hormones. Participants self-identified as White, Black, Hispanic, Chinese, or Japanese. At baseline and at each of the 10 follow-up visits, sexual function was assessed by self-administered questionnaires, and blood was drawn to assay serum levels of T, estradiol, FSH, SHBG, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. Self-reported frequency of masturbation, sexual desire, sexual arousal, orgasm, and pain during intercourse. Masturbation, sexual desire, and arousal were positively associated with T. Masturbation, arousal, and orgasm were negatively associated with FSH. Associations were modest. Estradiol was not related to any measured sexual function domain. Pain with intercourse was not associated with any hormone. Reproductive hormones were associated with sexual function in midlife women. T was positively associated, supporting the role of androgens in female sexual function. FSH was negatively associated, supporting the role of menopausal status in female sexual function. The modest associations in this large study suggest that the relationships are subtle and may be of limited clinical significance.
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Hyper-arousal decreases human visual thresholds.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Adam J Woods
Full Text Available Arousal has long been known to influence behavior and serves as an underlying component of cognition and consciousness. However, the consequences of hyper-arousal for visual perception remain unclear. The present study evaluates the impact of hyper-arousal on two aspects of visual sensitivity: visual stereoacuity and contrast thresholds. Sixty-eight participants participated in two experiments. Thirty-four participants were randomly divided into two groups in each experiment: Arousal Stimulation or Sham Control. The Arousal Stimulation group underwent a 50-second cold pressor stimulation (immersing the foot in 0-2° C water, a technique known to increase arousal. In contrast, the Sham Control group immersed their foot in room temperature water. Stereoacuity thresholds (Experiment 1 and contrast thresholds (Experiment 2 were measured before and after stimulation. The Arousal Stimulation groups demonstrated significantly lower stereoacuity and contrast thresholds following cold pressor stimulation, whereas the Sham Control groups showed no difference in thresholds. These results provide the first evidence that hyper-arousal from sensory stimulation can lower visual thresholds. Hyper-arousal's ability to decrease visual thresholds has important implications for survival, sports, and everyday life.
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Consciousness: physiological dependence on rapid memory access.
Hudson, Arthur J
2009-01-01
Consciousness develops from birth during the early months as the senses and other nervous system functions mature sufficiently to receive, process and store information. Among these is the ascending reticular activating (arousal) system in the brain stem that is responsible for wakefulness and was proposed by Penfield and Jasper more than 50 years ago as the "controlling mechanism for states of consciousness". This concept has remained the most advanced physiological interpretation of consciousness although recent developments offer greater insights into its nature. The ascending arousal system is the source of activation of the thalamocortical and cortical mechanisms for sensory input and facilitates the rapid matching of sensory input and the binding of memory during cognitive processing. Nonetheless, it is proposed that memory is the critical element through which our connection with the world exists without which, despite a fully functional arousal system, consciousness as we know it could not exist. Evidence is presented in support of this concept in addition to the physiological difficulties that must be resolved if consciousness is to be understood.
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Advances in pharmacotherapy for treating female sexual dysfunction.
Nappi, Rossella E; Cucinella, Laura
2015-04-01
'Female sexual dysfunction' (FSD) is an umbrella term comprising a range of common disorders, including hypoactive sexual desire, reduced subjective and/or physical genital arousal (poor sensation, vasocongestion, lubrication), sexual pain and inability to achieve orgasm/satisfaction, which are multidimensional by nature and often coexisting. Psychological and contextual factors have a significant influence on organic components of sexual response and behavior and a tailored medical approach to sexual symptoms is inevitably limited. The paper reports the most recent advances in pharmacotherapy for women taking into account the biopsychosocial model. Hormone therapy, including estrogens, testosterone, tibolone and dehydroepiandrosterone, are discussed in term of efficacy and safety in postmenopausal women both for female sexual interest/arousal disorder (FSIAD) and genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder. Ospemifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, approved to treat dyspareunia at menopause, is also discussed. Data on psychoactive agents for treatment of FSIAD in premenopausal women are discussed, including the potential use of on-demand combined hormonal (testosterone) and non-hormonal (buspirone or sildenafil) treatments to address possible neurophysiological profiles of women. We are still waiting for an approved pharmacotherapy for FSD. This is not the result of gender inequality in sexual medicine, but it reflects the need of balancing benefits and risks in order to provide effective and safe treatments to women of any age.
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Elevated arousal levels enhance contrast perception.
Kim, Dongho; Lokey, Savannah; Ling, Sam
2017-02-01
Our state of arousal fluctuates from moment to moment-fluctuations that can have profound impacts on behavior. Arousal has been proposed to play a powerful, widespread role in the brain, influencing processes as far ranging as perception, memory, learning, and decision making. Although arousal clearly plays a critical role in modulating behavior, the mechanisms underlying this modulation remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we examined the modulatory role of arousal on one of the cornerstones of visual perception: contrast perception. Using a reward-driven paradigm to manipulate arousal state, we discovered that elevated arousal state substantially enhances visual sensitivity, incurring a multiplicative modulation of contrast response. Contrast defines vision, determining whether objects appear visible or invisible to us, and these results indicate that one of the consequences of decreased arousal state is an impaired ability to visually process our environment.
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The role of incentive learning and cognitive regulation in sexual arousal
Brom, Mirte
2016-01-01
Insight in the underlying mechanisms of sexual motivation is essential to understand disorders in sexual desire and such understanding may be helpful in the development of new and effective psychological and pharmacological interventions, since empirically validated treatments are lacking for female
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Sociodemographic and clinical correlates of sexual dysfunction ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
2016-02-09
Feb 9, 2016 ... Objectives: In this study, we described the various types of sexual dysfunction ... Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire for the male participants and the Female ... dopamine, arousal by acetylcholine and nitric oxide, and.
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Arousal from sleep mechanisms in infants.
Franco, Patricia; Kato, Ineko; Richardson, Heidi L; Yang, Joel S C; Montemitro, Enza; Horne, Rosemary S C
2010-08-01
Arousals from sleep allow sleep to continue in the face of stimuli that normally elicit responses during wakefulness and also permit awakening. Such an adaptive mechanism implies that any malfunction may have clinical importance. Inadequate control of arousal in infants and children is associated with a variety of sleep-related problems. An excessive propensity to arouse from sleep favors the development of repeated sleep disruptions and insomnia, with impairment of daytime alertness and performance. A lack of an adequate arousal response to a noxious nocturnal stimulus reduces an infant's chances of autoresuscitation, and thus survival, increasing the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The study of arousability is complicated by many factors including the definition of an arousal; the scoring methodology; the techniques used (spontaneous arousability versus arousal responses to endogenous or exogenous stimuli); and the confounding factors that complicate the determination of arousal thresholds by changing the sleeper's responses to a given stimulus such as prenatal drug, alcohol, or cigarette use. Infant age and previous sleep deprivation also modify thresholds. Other confounding factors include time of night, sleep stages, the sleeper's body position, and sleeping conditions. In this paper, we will review these different aspects for the study of arousals in infants and also report the importance of these studies for the understanding of the pathophysiology of some clinical conditions, particularly SIDS. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Effect of PLISSIT Model on Solution of Sexual Problems
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Esra Uslu
2016-03-01
Full Text Available This systematic review study aims to determine the effect of PLISSIT model (permission, limited information, special suggestions, intensive therapy in the care of individuals having sexual problems. Two of the studies included in the systematic review have been carried out in Iran and one of them in Turkey. These studies were limited to the patients with stoma and women having sexual problems. Results presented that care via PLISSIT model improves the sexual functions and reduces sexual stress, increases the sexual desire, sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, sexual satisfaction and frequency of sexual activity. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2016; 8(1: 52-63
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Women’s sexual desire: challenging narratives of “Dysfunction”
Graham, Cynthia A.; Boynton, Petra M.; Gould, Kate
2017-01-01
Recent changes in the classification of female sexual dysfunction in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the first drug to treat low sexual desire in women (flibanserin) have highlighted the intense focus on sexual desire problems in women. We first discuss the rationale for the DSM changes and outline the DSM-5 criteria for Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder. We provide an overvi...
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Relationship of slow and rapid EEG components of CAP to ASDA arousals in normal sleep.
Parrino, L; Smerieri, A; Rossi, M; Terzano, M G
2001-12-15
Besides arousals (according to the ASDA definition), sleep contains also K-complexes and delta bursts which, in spite of their sleep-like features, are endowed with activating effects on autonomic functions. The link between phasic delta activities and enhancement of vegetative functions indicates the possibility of physiological activation without sleep disruption (i.e., arousal without awakening). A functional connection seems to include slow (K-complexes and delta bursts) and rapid (arousals) EEG events within the comprehensive term of activating complexes. CAP (cyclic alternating pattern) is the spontaneous EEG rhythm that ties both slow and rapid activating complexes together during NREM sleep. The present study aims at exploring the relationship between arousals and CAP components in a selected sample of healthy sleepers. Polysomnographic analysis according to the scoring rules for sleep stages and arousals. CAP analysis included also tabulation of subtypes A1 (slow EEG activating complexes), A2 and A3 (activating complexes with fast EEG components). 40 sleep-lab accomplished recordings. Healthy subjects belonging to a wide age range (38 +/- 20 yrs.). N/A. Of all the arousals occurring in NREM sleep, 87% were inserted within CAP. Subtypes A2 and A3 of CAP corresponded strikingly with arousals (r=0.843; p<0.0001), while no statistical relationship emerged when arousals were matched with subtypes A1 of CAP. Subtypes A1 instead correlated positively with the percentages of deep sleep (r=0.366; p<0.02). The CAP subtype classification encompasses both the process of sleep maintenance (subtypes A1) and sleep fragmentation (subtypes A2 and A3), and provides a periodicity dimension to the activating events of NREM sleep.
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Clitoral therapy device for treatment of sexual dysfunction in irradiated cervical cancer patients
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Schroder, MaryAnn; Mell, Loren K.; Hurteau, Jean A.; Collins, Yvonne C.; Rotmensch, Jacob; Waggoner, Steven E.; Yamada, S. Diane; Small, William; Mundt, Arno J.
2005-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy of the clitoral therapy device (Eros Therapy) in alleviating sexual dysfunction in irradiated cervical cancer patients. Methods and materials: Eligible patients had a history of cervical cancer treated with radiotherapy and self-reported sexual dysfunction of sexual arousal and/or orgasmic disorders. Patients used the noninvasive, nonpharmacologic clitoral therapy device using a hand-held, battery-powered vacuum to cause clitoral engorgement four times weekly for 3 months during foreplay and self-stimulation. Study instruments included the Female Sexual Function Index, Derogatis Interview for Sexual Functioning, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The outcome evaluation was performed at 3 months. Results: Between 2001 and 2002, 15 women were enrolled and 13 completed the study. The median patient age and radiotherapy-enrollment interval was 43.5 years and 2 years, respectively. At baseline, all patients reported symptoms of sexual arousal and/or orgasmic disorders, and some also had sexual desire and pain disorders. At 3 months, statistically significant improvements were seen in all domains tested, including sexual desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, sexual satisfaction, and reduced pain. The median Female Sexual Function Index total score increased from 17 to 29.4 (maximal score, 36; p <0.001). The median Derogatis Interview for Sexual Functioning total raw score increased from 46 to 95 (maximal score, 118; p <0.001). At baseline, the Derogatis Interview for Sexual Functioning total T-score corresponded to the bottom 10th percentile of normal sexual functioning. At 3 months, the total T-score placed the patients at the normalcy cutoff. Gynecologic examinations revealed improved mucosal color and moisture and vaginal elasticity and decreased bleeding and ulceration. Conclusion: Our results from this pilot study suggest that the clitoral therapy device may alleviate sexual dysfunction in irradiated
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Simultaneous conditioning of valence and arousal.
Gawronski, Bertram; Mitchell, Derek G V
2014-01-01
Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to the change in the valence of a conditioned stimulus (CS) due to its pairing with a positive or negative unconditioned stimulus (US). To the extent that core affect can be characterised by the two dimensions of valence and arousal, EC has important implications for the origin of affective responses. However, the distinction between valence and arousal is rarely considered in research on EC or conditioned responses more generally. Measuring the subjective feelings elicited by a CS, the results from two experiments showed that (1) repeated pairings of a CS with a positive or negative US of either high or low arousal led to corresponding changes in both CS valence and CS arousal, (2) changes in CS arousal, but not changes in CS valence, were significantly related to recollective memory for CS-US pairings, (3) subsequent presentations of the CS without the US reduced the conditioned valence of the CS, with conditioned arousal being less susceptible to extinction and (4) EC effects were stronger for high arousal than low arousal USs. The results indicate that the conditioning of affective responses can occur simultaneously along two independent dimensions, supporting evidence in related areas that calls for a consideration of both valence and arousal. Implications for research on EC and the acquisition of emotional dispositions are discussed.
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Sexual Self-Schema Scale for Women—Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version
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Krzysztof Nowosielski, MD
2018-06-01
Full Text Available Introduction: The sexual self-schema is a part of a broader concept of the self that is believed to be crucial for intrapersonal and interpersonal sexual relationships. Aim: To develop and perform psychometric validation of the Polish version of the Sexual Self-Schema Scale for Women (SSSS-W-PL. Methods: 561 women 18 to 55 years old were included in the final analysis. Linguistic validation was performed in 4 steps in line with the MAPI Institute guidelines. Convergent validity was calculated using the Pearson r product-moment coefficient between different measures of sexuality (attitudes and experience, behavior, arousal, romantic relationship and SSSS-W-PL total and factor scores. To test discriminant validity, we applied hierarchical regression analyses predicting the number of lifetime sexual partners, self-rating as a sexual person (1 item, “I feel sexually attractive”; on a 5-point Likert scale, and arousability, with independent variables being extraversion (Ten-Item Personality Inventory, self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the SSSS-W-PL (total and factor scores. Main Outcomes Measures: Sexual self-schema was measured by the SSSS-W-PL, whereas arousability was measured by the arousal/excitement scale of the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the study population was 29.0 ± 7.6 years. The final scale consisted of 24 adjectives grouped within 4 factors: romantic, passionate, direct, and embarrassed. The 4-factor model accounted for 39% of the variance. The Cronbach α was 0.74 for the SSSS-W-PL total score and 0.61 to 0.84 for individual factors. Test-retest reliability of the scale after 2- to 8-week intervals was 0.87 (95% CI = 0.82–0.86, P < .001. The increment variances were statistically significant and ranged from 3.8% to 11.6%. Conclusion: The analysis showed good psychometric properties and internal validity of the SSSS-W-PL. The SSSS-W-PL might be helpful in consulting and
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Sexual Function and Marital Satisfaction in Female with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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Firoozeh Raeisi
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background: Considering the high prevalence of sexual dysfunction in females with OCD and its impact on marital satisfaction, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sexual function and marital satisfaction in a group of female OCD patients. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 36 females with OCD, referred to the clinic of Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital (related to Tehran University of Medical Sciences and 3 private offices in Tehran, were selected by random sampling and completed questionnaires including: demographic FSFI, BDI-II, MOCI, OCI-R and researcher-developed marital satisfaction questionnaire. Results: 80.6% of women reported sexual dysfunction. The results of studying sexual function questionnaire subscales was as following: 50 % low sexual desire, 58.3 % low sexual arousal, 36.1 % decreased lubrication, 44 % orgasmic disorder, 52.8 % sexual pain disorder and 41.7 % sexual dissatisfaction. Furthermore, statistically significant correlation was found between sexual dysfunction (total score and arousal, lubrication, pain and satisfaction subscales and marital dissatisfaction. Studying the relation between obession(MOCI questionnaire and marital satisfaction revealed that the correlation between washing subscale of MOCI and marital dissatisfaction was also significant while there were not any significant correlation between obsession (OCJ-R, MOCI and sexual function (FSFI. Conclusion: High prevalence of sexual dysfunction in OCD patients, significant relationship between obsession and marital satisfaction, and sexual function and marital satisfaction could demonstrate relationship between sexual function, OCD and marital satisfaction.
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Baczkowski, Blazej M; Johnstone, Tom; Walter, Henrik; Erk, Susanne; Veer, Ilya M
2017-06-01
We evaluated whether sliding-window analysis can reveal functionally relevant brain network dynamics during a well-established fear conditioning paradigm. To this end, we tested if fMRI fluctuations in amygdala functional connectivity (FC) can be related to task-induced changes in physiological arousal and vigilance, as reflected in the skin conductance level (SCL). Thirty-two healthy individuals participated in the study. For the sliding-window analysis we used windows that were shifted by one volume at a time. Amygdala FC was calculated for each of these windows. Simultaneously acquired SCL time series were averaged over time frames that corresponded to the sliding-window FC analysis, which were subsequently regressed against the whole-brain seed-based amygdala sliding-window FC using the GLM. Surrogate time series were generated to test whether connectivity dynamics could have occurred by chance. In addition, results were contrasted against static amygdala FC and sliding-window FC of the primary visual cortex, which was chosen as a control seed, while a physio-physiological interaction (PPI) was performed as cross-validation. During periods of increased SCL, the left amygdala became more strongly coupled with the bilateral insula and anterior cingulate cortex, core areas of the salience network. The sliding-window analysis yielded a connectivity pattern that was unlikely to have occurred by chance, was spatially distinct from static amygdala FC and from sliding-window FC of the primary visual cortex, but was highly comparable to that of the PPI analysis. We conclude that sliding-window analysis can reveal functionally relevant fluctuations in connectivity in the context of an externally cued task. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sandra eSittenthaler
2015-05-01
Full Text Available Threats to our freedom are part of our daily social interactions. They are accompanied by an aversive state of motivational arousal, called reactance, which leads people to strive to reestablish their threatened freedom. This is especially the case if the threat seems to be illegitimate in nature. However, reactance theory suggests that reactance should also be aroused when people are exposed to legitimate freedom threats. In this article we first aim to show that both illegitimate and legitimate freedom threats evoke reactance. Second, we aim to extend past work on reactance by exploring the underlying process of experiencing a legitimate versus an illegitimate restriction. In the current study (N = 57 participants were restricted in an illegitimate (unexpected and inappropriate or legitimate (unexpected but appropriate way, or were not restricted at all. We assessed participants’ experience of reactance, their behavioral intentions to restore their freedom, their approach motivational states, as well as their physiological arousal (heart rate. Results indicated that when restricted in an illegitimate or a legitimate way, participants indicated the same amount of reactance as well as anger. However, when looking at people’s physiological reactions, important differences between illegitimate and legitimate restrictions become apparent. Illegitimate restrictions led to an immediate arousal, whereas legitimate restrictions led to a time delayed arousal. This suggests that illegitimate restrictions lead to a sudden increase in aversive arousal. Legitimate restrictions, however, seem to be associated with a more cognitive process in which people first need to structure their thoughts and reflect upon the situation before getting into the feeling of reactance in a physiologically arousing sense. Moreover a mediation analysis could show that behavioral intentions to regain one’s freedom result in positive and negative approach motivation. In sum
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Feederism: an exaggeration of a normative mate selection preference?
Terry, Lesley L; Suschinsky, Kelly D; Lalumière, Martin L; Vasey, Paul L
2012-02-01
Quinsey and Lalumière (1995) suggested that some, if not most, paraphilias are exaggerated manifestations of more normative and functional mate selection preferences. The present study tested whether Feederism, a fat fetish focused on erotic eating, feeding, and gaining weight, is an exaggeration of a sexual arousal pattern commonly seen in the general population. Thirty participants (15 men and 15 women) recruited from the general population were assessed using penile plethysmography and vaginal photoplethysmography, respectively. None of the participants were self-identified Feeders or Feedees. Participants were shown sexual, neutral, and feeding still images while listening to audio recordings of sexual, neutral, and feeding stories. Participants did not genitally respond to feeding stimuli. However, both men and women subjectively rated feeding stimuli as more sexually arousing than neutral stimuli. We discuss the discordance between physiological and self-reported sexual arousal in the context of sex differences in sexual concordance and implications for future research.
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Efrati, Yaniv; Mikulincer, Mario
2018-04-03
Compulsive sexual behavior comprises individual-based (e.g., sexual fantasies, compulsive sexual thoughts, masturbation) and partnered (e.g., interpersonal sexual conquests, repeated infidelity) facets. Most instruments for assessing compulsive sexual behavior, however, focus less on the individual-based facet and specifically on fantasies and compulsive thoughts. In the current research, we developed and validated an individual-based compulsive sexual behavior scale (I-CSB). In Study 1 (N = 492), the factorial structure of the I-CSB was examined. In Study 2 (N = 406), we assessed I-CSB's convergent validity. In Study 3 (N = 112), we examined whether the I-CSB differentiates between individuals who suffer from compulsive sexual behavior and those who do not. Results revealed a four-factor structure for individual-based compulsive sexual behavior that is associated with an intense inner conflict regarding sexuality (high arousal contrasting with high sexual anxiety), and that accounts for approximately 75% of the differences between people with compulsive sexual behavior and controls. Results are discussed in light of the need for a broader understanding of compulsive sexual behavior.
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... and changes in sexual function are common. These physiological changes can include: A need for more stimulation ... page: Sexuality in later life. National Institute on Aging. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/sexuality- ...
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Calvert, Sandra L.; Tan, Siu-Lan
1994-01-01
Compared to college students who only watched a violent virtual reality game, those who played the game exhibited a higher heart rate after the game, reported more dizziness and nausea during the game, and exhibited more aggressive thoughts on a posttest questionnaire. Results suggest support for arousal and cognitive, but not psychoanalytic,…
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Leerkes, Esther M; Su, Jinni; Calkins, Susan D; O'Brien, Marion; Supple, Andrew J
2017-02-01
The extent to which indices of maternal physiological arousal (skin conductance augmentation) and regulation (vagal withdrawal) while parenting predict infant attachment disorganization and behavior problems directly or indirectly via maternal sensitivity was examined in a sample of 259 mothers and their infants. Two covariates, maternal self-reported emotional risk and Adult Attachment Interview attachment coherence were assessed prenatally. Mothers' physiological arousal and regulation were measured during parenting tasks when infants were 6 months old. Maternal sensitivity was observed during distress-eliciting tasks when infants were 6 and 14 months old, and an average sensitivity score was calculated. Attachment disorganization was observed during the Strange Situation when infants were 14 months old, and mothers reported on infants' behavior problems when infants were 27 months old. Over and above covariates, mothers' arousal and regulation while parenting interacted to predict infant attachment disorganization and behavior problems such that maternal arousal was associated with higher attachment disorganization and behavior problems when maternal regulation was low but not when maternal regulation was high. This effect was direct and not explained by maternal sensitivity. The results suggest that maternal physiological dysregulation while parenting places infants at risk for psychopathology.
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Female Sexual Dysfunctions and Urogynecological Disorders
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Emillio Sacco
2013-12-01
Full Text Available Female sexual dysfunctions are a highly prevalent and often-underestimated health problem and include disorders of sexual desire, arousal, orgasm and sexual pain, associated with self-distress. Pathophysiology of female sexual dysfunctions is complex and still poorly understood, although it has been related to several biological, medical and psychological factors. Amongst women, urogynecological disorders such as urinary incontinence, overactive bladder syndrome, bladder pain syndrome and pelvic organ prolapse, have been found to be associated with sexual dysfunctions, although the biological and psychological bases of these associations are poorly investigated. Data on sexual function impact of these conditions come from several cross-sectional or community-based, epidemiological studies based on self-administered validated psychometric tools. This review focuses on the most relevant available evidence on the impact of urogynecological disorders and related surgical treatments on female sexual function.
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Interplay between affect and arousal in recognition memory.
Greene, Ciara M; Bahri, Pooja; Soto, David
2010-07-23
Emotional states linked to arousal and mood are known to affect the efficiency of cognitive performance. However, the extent to which memory processes may be affected by arousal, mood or their interaction is poorly understood. Following a study phase of abstract shapes, we altered the emotional state of participants by means of exposure to music that varied in both mood and arousal dimensions, leading to four different emotional states: (i) positive mood-high arousal; (ii) positive mood-low arousal; (iii) negative mood-high arousal; (iv) negative mood-low arousal. Following the emotional induction, participants performed a memory recognition test. Critically, there was an interaction between mood and arousal on recognition performance. Memory was enhanced in the positive mood-high arousal and in the negative mood-low arousal states, relative to the other emotional conditions. Neither mood nor arousal alone but their interaction appears most critical to understanding the emotional enhancement of memory.
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Interplay between affect and arousal in recognition memory.
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Ciara M Greene
2010-07-01
Full Text Available Emotional states linked to arousal and mood are known to affect the efficiency of cognitive performance. However, the extent to which memory processes may be affected by arousal, mood or their interaction is poorly understood.Following a study phase of abstract shapes, we altered the emotional state of participants by means of exposure to music that varied in both mood and arousal dimensions, leading to four different emotional states: (i positive mood-high arousal; (ii positive mood-low arousal; (iii negative mood-high arousal; (iv negative mood-low arousal. Following the emotional induction, participants performed a memory recognition test. Critically, there was an interaction between mood and arousal on recognition performance. Memory was enhanced in the positive mood-high arousal and in the negative mood-low arousal states, relative to the other emotional conditions.Neither mood nor arousal alone but their interaction appears most critical to understanding the emotional enhancement of memory.
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Kenntner-Mabiala, Ramona; Gorges, Susanne; Alpers, Georg W; Lehmann, Andreas C; Pauli, Paul
2007-04-01
The present study investigated affective and physiological responses to changes of tempo and mode in classical music and their effects on heat pain perception. Thirty-eight healthy non-musicians (17 female) listened to sequences of 24 music stimuli which were variations of 4 pieces of classical music. Tempo (46, 60, and 95 beats/min) and mode (major and minor) were manipulated digitally, all other musical elements were held constant. Participants rated valence, arousal, happiness and sadness of the musical stimuli as well as the intensity and the unpleasantness of heat pain stimuli which were applied during music listening. Heart rate, respiratory rate and end-tidal PCO(2) were recorded. Pain ratings were highest for the fastest tempo. Also, participants' arousal ratings, their respiratory rate and heart rate were accelerated by the fastest tempo. The modulation of pain perception by the tempo of music seems to be mediated by the listener's arousal.
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Anderson, Craig A.; And Others
1995-01-01
Used a general model of affective aggression to generate predictions concerning hot temperatures. Results indicated that hot temperatures produced increases in hostile affect, hostile cognition, and physiological arousal. Concluded that hostile affect, hostile cognitions, and excitation transfer processes may all increase the likelihood of biased…
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The Impact of Sexual Media on Second Language Vocabulary Retrieval.
Çetin, Yakup
2015-12-01
Both Islam and Christianity warn their adherents not to view or to display obscene matter. Aside from religious consequences in the afterlife for such behavior, this study was conducted to determine if viewing sexual media has a detrimental effect in earthly life. Adolescents (n = 64) 17-22 years were exposed to two types of visual stimuli containing sexual or neutral content for 30 min. The participants, seated in rooms with comfortable chairs and provided with snacks, were shown a selection of 18 German words via a PowerPoint slideshow, which included a picture, an audio recording, and the written form of each word. The experimental group, which was exposed to arousing visual stimuli with mild sexual content (movie trailers, music video clips, and TV commercials), remembered significantly fewer words than the control group, which viewed a nature documentary without sexual content. T-test scores revealed that exposure to sexually arousing media impaired memory for second language (L2) vocabulary. Apart from leading to dire consequences in the hereafter, the results of the study demonstrate that viewing obscene material also causes harm in this life.
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Blom, Rianne M; van der Wal, Sija J; Vulink, Nienke C; Denys, D.
2017-01-01
BACKGROUND: Body integrity identity disorder (BIID)-a strong desire for amputation or paralysis-is often accompanied by feelings and cognitions of sexual arousal, although this sexual component has been largely neglected in the recent literature. AIM: To examine the presence of BIID-related sexual
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Impact of estrogen receptor α gene and oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms on female sexuality
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Anastasia K Armeni
2017-02-01
Full Text Available Over the past decades, research attention has increasingly been paid to the neurobiological component of sexual behavior. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation of estrogen receptor α (ERA gene polymorphism (rs2234693-PvuII (T→C substitution and oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism (rs53576 (G→A substitution with sexuality parameters of young, healthy women. One hundred thirty-three Greek heterosexual women, students in higher education institutions, 20–25 years of age, sexually active, with normal menstrual cycles (28–35 days, were recruited in the study. Exclusion criteria were chronic and/or major psychiatric diseases, use of oral contraceptive pills (OCs, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS, thyroid diseases as well as drugs that are implicated in hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal axis. T allele (wildtype of rs2234693 (PvuII polymorphism of ERA gene was correlated with increased levels of arousal and lubrication, whereas A allele (polymorphic of rs53576 (OXTR polymorphism was correlated with increased arousal levels. The simultaneous presence of both T allele of rs2234693 (PvuII and A allele of rs53576 (OXTR polymorphisms (T + A group was correlated with increased arousal, orgasm levels as well as female sexual function index full score. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the interaction between ERA and OXTR with regard to sexual function in women. Female sexuality is a complex behavioral trait that encompasses both biological and psychological components. It seems that variability in female sexual response stems from genetic variability that characterizes endocrine, neurotransmitter and central nervous system influences.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Abrams, J K; Johnson, P L; Hay-Schmidt, Anders
2005-01-01
Serotonergic systems play important roles in modulating behavioral arousal, including behavioral arousal and vigilance associated with anxiety states. To further our understanding of the neural systems associated with increases in anxiety states, we investigated the effects of multiple anxiogenic...... and vigilance behaviors consistent with an increase in anxiety state. In addition, these anxiogenic drugs, excluding yohimbine, had convergent actions on an anatomically-defined subset of serotonergic neurons within the middle and caudal, dorsal subdivision of the DR. High resolution topographical analysis...... nucleus, a forebrain structure important for emotional appraisal and modulation of anxiety-related physiological and behavioral responses. Together these findings support the hypothesis that there is a functional topographical organization in the DR and are consistent with the hypothesis that anxiogenic...
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Psycho-physiological response of soldiers in urban combat
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Vicente J. Clemente-Suárez
2013-05-01
Full Text Available Current armed conflicts are asymmetrical and are developed m urban areas. These new requirements have not been studied for current literature. The aim of this study was to analyse changes in cortical arousal, blood lactate, muscle strength, autonomic modulation and rate of perceived exertion in a simulated urban combat. We analyzed 20 soldiers before and after an urban combat simulation. The results showed how urban combat produced high sympathetic nervous system activation, increasing the muscle strength, heart rate and blood lactate concentration of the soldiers. Despite this effort, rate of perceived exertion were not consistent with the physiological response that soldiers presented, the rate of perceived exertion was lower than the physiological response evaluated. Furthermore, the information processing and cortical arousal decreased after the urban combat simulation. These results have showed the psycho-physiological response of soldiers in combat, helping to better understanding and enabling an improvement of current training methods of soldiers.
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Klismaphilia--a physiological perspective.
Agnew, J
1982-10-01
Dr. Joanne Denko coined the work klismaphilia to describe the practices of some of her patients who enjoyed the use of enemas as a sexual stimulant. Since then questions occasionally appear in the professional literature asking about the relationship between enemas and sexual pleasure. This paper considers some of the physiological aspects of the human sexual apparatus that relate to anal sensitivity and explores why klismaphilia can be sexually grafifying. The paper starts with a discussion of the physiological basis for anal sensitivity and anal masturbation in both the human male and the human female. The paper then goes on to relate all this to the sexual sensations received from an enema, and discusses the similarities and differences between all these types of stimulation. Some of the psychological aspects of klismaphilia are also considered in relationship to the physiology involved. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of masked anal masturbation among the population at large. A comprehensive list of references from the literature is given to support these findings.
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Klusek, Jessica; Martin, Gary E.; Losh, Molly
2013-01-01
This study tested the hypothesis that pragmatic (i.e., social) language impairment is linked to arousal dysregulation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fragile X syndrome (FXS). Forty boys with ASD, 39 with FXS, and 27 with typical development (TD), aged 4-15 years, participated. Boys with FXS were hyperaroused compared to boys with TD but did…
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The human sexual response cycle: brain imaging evidence linking sex to other pleasures.
Georgiadis, J R; Kringelbach, M L
2012-07-01
Sexual behavior is critical to species survival, yet comparatively little is known about the neural mechanisms in the human brain. Here we systematically review the existing human brain imaging literature on sexual behavior and show that the functional neuroanatomy of sexual behavior is comparable to that involved in processing other rewarding stimuli. Sexual behavior clearly follows the established principles and phases for wanting, liking and satiety involved in the pleasure cycle of other rewards. The studies have uncovered the brain networks involved in sexual wanting or motivation/anticipation, as well as sexual liking or arousal/consummation, while there is very little data on sexual satiety or post-orgasmic refractory period. Human sexual behavior also interacts with other pleasures, most notably social interaction and high arousal states. We discuss the changes in the underlying brain networks supporting sexual behavior in the context of the pleasure cycle, the changes to this cycle over the individual's life-time and the interactions between them. Overall, it is clear from the data that the functional neuroanatomy of sex is very similar to that of other pleasures and that it is unlikely that there is anything special about the brain mechanisms and networks underlying sex. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Trigeminal induced arousals during human sleep.
Heiser, Clemens; Baja, Jan; Lenz, Franziska; Sommer, J Ulrich; Hörmann, Karl; Herr, Raphael M; Stuck, Boris A
2015-05-01
Arousals caused by external stimuli during human sleep have been studied for most of the sensorial systems. It could be shown that a pure nasal trigeminal stimulus leads to arousals during sleep. The frequency of arousals increases dependent on the stimulus concentration. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of different stimulus durations on arousal frequency during different sleep stages. Ten young healthy volunteers with 20 nights of polysomnography were included in the study. Pure trigeminal stimulation with both different concentrations of CO2 (0, 10, 20, 40% v/v) and different stimulus durations (1, 3, 5, and 10 s) were applied during different sleep stages to the volunteers using an olfactometer. The application was performed during different sleep stages (light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep). The number of arousals increased with rising stimulus duration and stimulus concentration during each sleep stage. Trigeminal stimuli during sleep led to arousals in dose- and time-dependent manner.
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Musical Tasks and Energetic Arousal.
Lim, Hayoung A; Watson, Angela L
2018-03-08
Music is widely recognized as a motivating stimulus. Investigators have examined the use of music to improve a variety of motivation-related outcomes; however, these studies have focused primarily on passive music listening rather than active participation in musical activities. To examine the influence of participation in musical tasks and unique participant characteristics on energetic arousal. We used a one-way Welch's ANOVA to examine the influence of musical participation (i.e., a non-musical control and four different musical task conditions) upon energetic arousal. In addition, ancillary analyses of participant characteristics including personality, age, gender, sleep, musical training, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol revealed their possible influence upon pretest and posttest energetic arousal scores. Musical participation yielded a significant relationship with energetic arousal, F(4, 55.62) = 44.38, p = .000, estimated ω2 = 0.60. Games-Howell post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed statistically significant differences between five conditions. Descriptive statistics revealed expected differences between introverts' and extraverts' energetic arousal scores at the pretest, F(1, 115) = 6.80, p = .010, partial η2= .06; however, mean differences failed to reach significance at the posttest following musical task participation. No other measured participant characteristics yielded meaningful results. Passive tasks (i.e., listening to a story or song) were related to decreased energetic arousal, while active musical tasks (i.e., singing, rhythm tapping, and keyboard playing) were related to increased energetic arousal. Musical task participation appeared to have a differential effect for individuals with certain personality traits (i.e., extroverts and introverts).
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Physical therapy treatment of persistent genital arousal disorder during pregnancy: a case report.
Rosenbaum, Talli Yehuda
2010-03-01
Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) is described as the spontaneous, intrusive, and unwanted genital arousal in the absence of sexual interest and desire. Whether the etiology of this disorder is essentially central or peripheral is unclear; however, a presenting symptom may be persistent engorgement of genital erectile and vascular tissue. To describe a case of a distressed 27 year old pregnant woman with symptoms consistent with PGAD, and the intervention leading to the resolution of symptoms. A patient with symptoms of PGAD was assessed. Information regarding this condition was offered. A manual therapy treatment was provided to decrease muscle hypertonus near the pudendal nerve, and a home intervention was suggested. Complete resolution of symptoms per patient's report 1 week later. Treatment with pelvic floor manual therapy directed at the pudendal nerve may provide safe and significant relief from PGAD symptoms in a pregnant woman patient.
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Hormonal contraception and female pain, orgasm and sexual pleasure.
Smith, Nicole K; Jozkowski, Kristen N; Sanders, Stephanie A
2014-02-01
Almost half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintentional, unplanned, or mistimed. Most unplanned pregnancies result from inconsistent, incorrect, or nonuse of a contraceptive method. Diminished sexual function and pleasure may be a barrier to using hormonal contraception. This study explores sexual function and behaviors of women in relation to the use of hormonal vs. nonhormonal methods of contraception. Data were collected as part of an online health and sexuality study of women. Main outcomes variables assess frequencies in two domains: (i) sexual function (proportion of sexual events with experiences of pain or discomfort, arousal, contentment and satisfaction, pleasure and enjoyment, lubrication difficulty, and orgasm) and (ii) sexual behavior (number of times engaged in sexual activity, proportion of sexual events initiated by the woman, and proportion of sexual events for which a lubricant was used). Sociodemographic variables and contraceptive use were used as sample descriptors and correlates. The recall period was the past 4 weeks. The sample included 1,101 women with approximately half (n = 535) using a hormonal contraceptive method exclusively or a combination of a hormonal and nonhormonal method, and about half (n = 566) using a nonhormonal method of contraception exclusively. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation of hormonal contraceptive use to each of the dependent variables. Women using a hormonal contraceptive method experienced less frequent sexual activity, arousal, pleasure, and orgasm and more difficulty with lubrication even when controlling for sociodemographic variables. This study adds to the literature on the potential negative sexual side effects experienced by many women using hormonal contraception. Prospective research with diverse women is needed to enhance the understanding of potential negative sexual side effects of hormonal contraceptives, their prevalence, and possible mechanisms
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The adrenergic alpha2 receptor and sexual incentive motivation in male rats.
Viitamaa, Timo; Haapalinna, Antti; Agmo, Anders
2006-03-01
The purpose of the present series of experiments was to determine whether drugs acting at the alpha2-adrenoceptor modify unconditioned sexual incentive motivation in the male rat. To that end a highly specific agonist, dexmedetomidine, a corresponding antagonist, atipamezole, and a less specific antagonist, yohimbine, were administered to groups of sexually inexperienced male rats. The subjects were tested in a large rectangular arena, where a sexually receptive female and an intact male were employed as incentives. The incentive animals were confined behind a wire mesh in opposite corners of the arena. The animals could see, hear and smell each other, but no sexual interaction was possible. Approach to the incentives constituted the measure of incentive motivation. In addition, the test provided data on ambulatory activity and general arousal. Dexmedetomidine, at a dose of 8 microg/kg, produced a slight reduction of sexual incentive motivation. Ambulatory activity and general arousal were also inhibited. Atipamezole, in doses of 0.1 and 0.3mg/kg enhanced the positive incentive properties of the receptive female. A high dose of 1mg/kg did not have any significant effect. Ambulatory activity was slightly reduced by the two larger doses of atipamezole. Yohimbine had a slight stimulatory effect on sexual incentive motivation at a dose (4 mg/kg) that also reduced ambulatory activity and general arousal. It is concluded that blockade of the adrenergic alpha2 receptor stimulates sexual incentive motivation in the male rat whereas stimulation of it has the opposite effect. At present it is not clear if these drug effects are caused by pre- or postsynaptic actions of the drugs, and the importance of secondary changes in other neurotransmitter systems remains unknown.
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Sexual function of pregnant women in the third trimester
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Nülüfer Erbil
2018-06-01
Full Text Available Introduction: Physical, hormonal and psychological changes during pregnancy can affect a woman’s sexuality as well as a couple’s sexual relationship. The aim of this study was to examine sexual function of pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Methods: The data of descriptive and cross-sectional study was collected via a questionnaire form and Female Sexual Function Index. A score ≤ 26.55 is classified as female sexual dysfunction. A total of 125 volunteer healthy and married pregnant women in third trimester of pregnancy who admitted to the antenatal policlinics were included in this study. Results: The determined that 92% of participants had sexual dysfunction. The Female Sexual Function Index and domains scores in the 28th-31st, 32nd-35th and 36th and higher gestational weeks of pregnancy were as follows: sexual desire scores, 2.50, 2.77 and 2.40; sexual arousal scores, 2.26, 2.72 and 1.69; lubrication scores, 2.61, 3.42 and 1.97; orgasm scores, 2.51, 2.85 and 1.78; sexual satisfaction scores, 3.17, 3.77 and 2.66; pain scores, 2.44, 2.72 and 1.66, and total Female Sexual Function Index scores were 15.51, 18.29, 12.26, respectively. Sexual arousal (p = 0.008, lubrication (p = 0.001, orgasm (p = 0.031, sexual satisfaction (p = 0.005, pain (p = 0.049 and total Female Sexual Function Index score (p = 0.004 were the lowest in 36th and higher gestational weeks, and only sexual desire did not differ (p = 0.191. Conclusions: Sexual function of pregnant women in the third trimester were negatively effected. Health professionals should be trained to evaluate sexual difficulties in pregnant women and to recommend possible solutions. Keywords: Pregnancy, Sexuality, Third trimester, Female sexual function index
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Micro-arousals during nocturnal sleep.
Halász, P; Kundra, O; Rajna, P; Pál, I; Vargha, M
1979-01-01
In 8 young adult human subjects EEG- and polygraphic characteristics of transient shifts towards arousal (micro-arousal, MA) have been studied during sleep under five different experimental conditions in 40 night sessions. Out of the five applied experimental situations, two (psychostimulant application and sensory stimulation) resulted in a shift of the balance between the systems of sleep and arousal towards an increased activity of the arousal system, while an other condition (rebound following partial sleep deprivation) led to an opposite change to a rise in "sleep pressure". An inverse correlation has been found between the frequency of MA and the depth of sleep, a finding consistently observed in every subject and in every experimental situation. During the process of sleep periodic changes in the dispersity of MA could be seen; the number of MA-s decreased and increased according to the descending and ascending slope of the sleep cycles. During the ascending slope of cycles there was a coupling between the occurence of MA-s and the changes of phases. Increases in the level of activation and in sleep pressure did not influence the occurrence of MA-s. Increasing the tone of the arousal system in chemical way, or by means of enhancing the phasic sensory input resulted in a reduction of the difference between the number of MA on the descending and ascending slopes of cycles. During the phases of sleep, the spontaneous occurrence of MA-s went parallel with the possibility to evoke MA-s by sensory stimuli. These data show that MA is a regular phenomenon of nocturnal sleep; MA manifests itself as a result of phasic functioning of the reticular arousal system and plays a role in the organization of those periods of the sleep cycle, which tend toward arousal. It is suggested that MA-phenomenon is considered a standard measure of sleep and that it could represent an indicator of the function of the arousal system controlled by external or internal mechanisms during
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Objective assessment of sexual arousal in women with a history of hysterectomy
Maas, C. P.; ter Kuile, M. M.; Laan, E.; Tuijnman, C. C.; Weijenborg, Ph Th M.; Trimbos, J. B.; Kenter, G. G.
2004-01-01
OBJECTIVE: The potential contribution of psychological and anatomical changes to sexual dysfunction following hysterectomy is not clear. Radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer causes surgical damage to the autonomic nerves which are responsible for the increased vaginal blood flow during sexual
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Sexual Dysfunction 1 - Sexual sequelae of general medical disorders
Basson, Rosemary; Schultz, Willibrord Weijmar
2007-01-01
That sexual symptoms can signal serious underlying disease confirms the importance of sexual enquiry as an integral component of medical assessment. Data on sexual function are sparse in some medical specialties. However, increased scientific understanding of the central and peripheral physiology of
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Female ejaculation orgasm vs. coital incontinence: a systematic review.
Pastor, Zlatko
2013-07-01
Women may expel various kinds of fluids during sexual arousal and at orgasm. Their origins, quantity, compositions, and expulsion mechanisms depend on anatomical and pathophysiological dispositions and the degree of sexual arousal. These are natural sexual responses but may also represent symptoms of urinary incontinence. The study aims to clarify the etiology of fluid leakage at orgasm, distinguish between associated physiological sexual responses, and differentiate these phenomena from symptoms of illness. A systematic literature review was performed. EMBASE (OvidSP) and Web of Science databases were searched for the articles on various phenomena of fluid expulsions in women during sexual arousal and at orgasm. Articles included focused on female ejaculation and its variations, coital incontinence (CI), and vaginal lubrication. Female ejaculation orgasm manifests as either a female ejaculation (FE) of a smaller quantity of whitish secretions from the female prostate or a squirting of a larger amount of diluted and changed urine. Both phenomena may occur simultaneously. The prevalence of FE is 10-54%. CI is divided into penetration and orgasmic forms. The prevalence of CI is 0.2-66%. Penetration incontinence occurs more frequently and is usually caused by stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Urodynamic diagnoses of detrusor overactivity (DOA) and SUI are observed in orgasmic incontinence. Fluid expulsions are not typically a part of female orgasm. FE and squirting are two different physiological components of female sexuality. FE was objectively evidenced only in tens of cases but its reported high prevalence is based mostly on subjective questionnaire research. Pathophysiology of squirting is rarely documented. CI is a pathological sign caused by urethral disorder, DOA, or a combination of both, and requires treatment. An in-depth appreciation of these similar but pathophysiologically distinct phenomena is essential for distinguishing normal, physiological sexual
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Sexual self-concept and intended sexual behavior of young adolescent Taiwanese girls.
Pai, Hsiang-Chu; Lee, Sheuan; Chang, Ting
2010-01-01
People begin to become aware of their sexual drive and erotic feelings as young adolescents. Such activity often has been overlooked in Taiwan, a traditional society, because sexuality is viewed as a private issue. The purpose of this study was to explore the sexual self-concept and intended sexual behavior of young adolescent girls in Taiwan. Participants included 372 girls, 12 to 14 years old, from junior high schools in Taiwan who completed two questionnaires on sexual experience and sexually related items: the Sexual Self-Concept Inventory, the Parental Approval of Sexual Behavior Scale, and the Friends' Approval of Sexual Behavior Scale, which were combined into one scale, with separate scores. Girls' self-reports showed low (negative) sexual self-concept, high perceived parental disapproval, and somewhat high perceived friends' disapproval of sexual activities. Sexual self-concept is associated with perceived parental and peer approval of sexual activities, and it is associated with sexual experience and intended sexual activities as well. A young adolescent girl who has a high score on the perceived sexual arousability factor of the Sexual Self-Concept Inventory is more likely to report the strongest intention toward sexual behavior. Sexual self-concept may play a key role in girls' intended sexual activities, including engaging in low-level sexual activities (e.g., kissing and breast fondling) that occur before intercourse, even when associated with intercourse intention. The research suggests that addressing sexual self-concept needs to be a priority to prevent young girls from engaging in sexual intercourse.
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Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports
Park, Brian Y.; Wilson, Gary; Berger, Jonathan; Christman, Matthew; Reina, Bryn; Bishop, Frank; Klam, Warren P.; Doan, Andrew P.
2016-01-01
Traditional factors that once explained men’s sexual difficulties appear insufficient to account for the sharp rise in erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, decreased sexual satisfaction, and diminished libido during partnered sex in men under 40. This review (1) considers data from multiple domains, e.g., clinical, biological (addiction/urology), psychological (sexual conditioning), sociological; and (2) presents a series of clinical reports, all with the aim of proposing a possible direction for future research of this phenomenon. Alterations to the brain's motivational system are explored as a possible etiology underlying pornography-related sexual dysfunctions. This review also considers evidence that Internet pornography’s unique properties (limitless novelty, potential for easy escalation to more extreme material, video format, etc.) may be potent enough to condition sexual arousal to aspects of Internet pornography use that do not readily transition to real-life partners, such that sex with desired partners may not register as meeting expectations and arousal declines. Clinical reports suggest that terminating Internet pornography use is sometimes sufficient to reverse negative effects, underscoring the need for extensive investigation using methodologies that have subjects remove the variable of Internet pornography use. In the interim, a simple diagnostic protocol for assessing patients with porn-induced sexual dysfunction is put forth. PMID:27527226
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Sexual dysfunction and the underlying medical problems in post-menopausal women
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Soheila Nazarpour
2016-02-01
Full Text Available Background: Sexual dysfunction could be under the influence of some underlying medical problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between medical problems and sexual function in post-menopausal women. Methods: This is a community-based, descriptive-correlation study of 405 post-menopausal women residing in Chalus and Nowshahr cities, North of Iran, aged 40 to 65 years old from October 2013 to May 2014. A multistage, randomized sampling was conducted. The data was acquired through interviews using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI questionnaire and a researcher-made questionnaire, and was analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests such as multiple linear regression and logistic regression models. Results: 51.4% of the subjects had medical conditions. Cardiovascular disorders were the most common diseases among the subjects. 61% of the women were suffering from female sexual dysfunction (FSD. Sexual dysfunction in patients with medical conditions was significantly higher (P= 0.037. Scores of arousal (P= 0.000, orgasm (P= 0.018, and satisfaction (P= 0.026, as well as the FSFI total score (P= 0.005, were significantly lower in subjects with cardiovascular disorders. Scores of desire (P= 0.001, arousal (P= 0.006, lubrication (P= 0.010, orgasm (P= 0.004, and satisfaction (P= 0.022, as well as the FSFI total score (P= 0.017, were significantly lower in subjects with diabetes. Scores of pain were significantly lower in subjects with musculoskeletal disorders (P= 0.041, they experienced more pain during intercourse. In domains of arousal (P= 0.030, satisfaction (P= 0.040, and pain (P= 0.044, the scores of those taking antihypertensive medications were significantly lower than the scores of the rest of the subjects. Scores of desire (P= 0.001, arousal (P= 0.006, orgasm (P= 0.006, and satisfaction (P= 0.048, as well as the FSFI total score (P= 0.006, were significantly lower in those taking antidiabetic drugs. And lastly
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Extinction of Aversive Classically Conditioned Human Sexual Response
Brom, M.; Laan, E.; Everaerd, W.; Spinhoven, P.; Both, S.
INTRODUCTION: Research has shown that acquired subjective likes and dislikes are quite resistant to extinction. Moreover, studies on female sexual response demonstrated that diminished genital arousal and positive affect toward erotic stimuli due to aversive classical conditioning did not extinguish
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Extinction of aversive classically conditioned human sexual response
Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Both, Stephanie
2015-01-01
Research has shown that acquired subjective likes and dislikes are quite resistant to extinction. Moreover, studies on female sexual response demonstrated that diminished genital arousal and positive affect toward erotic stimuli due to aversive classical conditioning did not extinguish during an
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Wannakosit, Salakjit; Phupong, Vorapong
2010-10-01
Sexuality usually decreases during pregnancy. To evaluate sexual behavior during pregnancy, comparing two groups. One had sexual education and the other had none. After randomizing two groups of pregnant women, they completed self-administered questionnaires regarding attitudes and sexual behavior before and during pregnancy. Sexual education was provided in one group and a second self-administered questionnaire was completed 12 weeks later. Responses were summarized using descriptive statistics. Comparison of change of sexual behavior between two groups was analyzed using chi-square and student t-tests. The change in frequency of coitus during pregnancy was compared between the sexual education group and the noneducation group. There was no statistically difference in changes of sexual behavior between the two groups. There was a reduction in frequency of coitus (90.6% vs. 94.9%, P>0.05) between the nonsexual education group and the sexual education group and no statistically significant change in mean reduction of sexual desire (8.9 vs. 4.4, P>0.05), sexual arousal (14.3 vs. 13.1, P>0.05), satisfaction from coitus (15.4 vs. 7.2, P>0.05), and orgasm from coitus (12.3 vs. 12.3, P>0.05). The change of sexual behavior during pregnancy in the sexual education group was not different from that in the nonsexual education group. © 2010 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Muin, Dana A; Sheikh Rezaei, Safoura; Tremmel-Scheinost, Max; Salama, Mohamed; Luger, Anton; Wolzt, Michael; Husslein, Peter W; Bayerle-Eder, Michaela
2017-03-01
To study sexual function, quality of life, and depression in men, whose female partners are undergoing double-blind placebo-controlled randomized treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). Open prospective cohort study of 22 weeks. Academic medical center. Male partners of 30 premenopausal and postmenopausal women with HSDD. Baseline, 3-month, and 5-month assessment (for 8 weeks each) of male response to female partner's use of oxytocin nasal spray (32 IE) and placebo within 50 minutes before sexual intercourse. Primary outcome parameters were Sexual Life Quality Questionnaire-Male, Sexual Activity Record, Partner Performance Questionnaire, and Hamilton Depression Scale. Male Sexual Life Quality questionnaire improved significantly from -7.4 ± 9.9 at baseline to 8.2 ± 12 with female partners' treatment with oxytocin nasal spray and to 10.8 ± 13.8 with placebo. Frequency of intercourse improved slightly but not significantly from 6.3 ± 3.9 at baseline to 7.3 ± 4 with female oxytocin therapy, but not with placebo. Male desire and arousal remained stable throughout the study period. Evaluation of female partners' performance by men improved significantly from 8.9 ± 2.8 at baseline to 10.6 ± 2.2 with oxytocin and to 11.2 ± 2.6 with placebo. Female treatment with either oxytocin or placebo for HSDD significantly improves male sexual quality of life and evaluation of female partner's sexual performance with no difference between oxytocin and placebo on any outcome parameters. A nonsignificant improvement was seen in the frequency of intercourse, male arousal, desire, satisfaction, and Hamilton depression scale. NCT02229721. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Examining the sexual function and related attitudes among aged women: A cross- sectional study
Jamali, Safieh; Rahmanian, Afifeh; Javadpour, Shohreh
2016-01-01
Background: Sexual function and its subsequent satisfaction are among the most important aspects of women’s life. However, this instinct could be influenced by some factors such as diseases, drug using, aging, and hormonal and physiologic changes associated with menopause, and sexual behavior. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence rates of sexual dysfunction, and related attitudes among aged women in Jahrom, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 746 postmenopausal women aged between 50 and 89 years old who had referred to obstetric and gynecologic clinic in Jahrom, from April to October 2014. Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire was used order to assess the sexual function. The cases were classified into three categories according to the attitude scores: negative (17-32), medium (33-38), and positive (39-48). One-way ANOVA test was used to determine the relationship between FSFI and attitude scores. Results: The participants’ mean±SD age was 60.10±6.89 years and the total mean score of FSFI was 19.31±8.5. In addition, 81.5% of the women had sexual dysfunction (FSFIsexual function (FSFI> 26.55). Almost 62.1% the women displayed a negative attitude towards sexuality and only 18.8% women had positive attitude. Feeling of dyspareunia (p= 0.02), lubrication (psexuality, respectively Conclusion: Our data showed that sexual disorders were highly prevalent among postmenopausal women. The most affected problems were arousal, dyspareunia, and lubrication. More than half of the women had negative attitude towards sexual function consequently this could affect their sexual function. So, it seems screening of sexual dysfunction for finding the causes in women should be the main sexual health program. Also, it would be important to emphasis the role of physicians and experts on education and counseling in this subject. PMID:27141546
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Current approach to sexual disfunctions in women
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Abdulkadir Tepeler
2010-12-01
Full Text Available Even though sexual problems and sexual dysfunction are commonly observed in the society, a significant majority of the problems are not reported to the doctors, and due to this fact, remain unaddressed. In our country, the studies about sexual dysfunction are limited in number but in recent years there has been an increase in these studies. The ratio of sexual dysfunction is higher in women than the ratio in men (43%; 31%. However, there are few treatment modality about women sexual dysfunction. Most commonly observed sexual dysfunctions in women are loss of sexual interest/desire, sexual arousal dysfunctions, orgasm dysfunctions, dyspareunia, vaginismus and sexual anxiety. In DSM-IV-TR, sexual dysfunction is treated by taking stress and interfamily relation problems into consideration. According to WHO’s definition, sexual health refers the combination of physical, emotional, intellectual and social sexual existense with the techniques that would increase personality communication and love. Sexual problems damage this combination, and cause pyschological and social problems. J Clin Exp Invest 2010; 1(3: 235-240
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Frequent arousals from winter torpor in Rafinesque's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Joseph S Johnson
Full Text Available Extensive use of torpor is a common winter survival strategy among bats; however, data comparing various torpor behaviors among species are scarce. Winter torpor behaviors are likely to vary among species with different physiologies and species inhabiting different regional climates. Understanding these differences may be important in identifying differing susceptibilities of species to white-nose syndrome (WNS in North America. We fitted 24 Rafinesque's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii with temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters, and monitored 128 PIT-tagged big-eared bats, during the winter months of 2010 to 2012. We tested the hypothesis that Rafinesque's big-eared bats use torpor less often than values reported for other North American cave-hibernators. Additionally, we tested the hypothesis that Rafinesque's big-eared bats arouse on winter nights more suitable for nocturnal foraging. Radio-tagged bats used short (2.4 d ± 0.3 (SE, shallow (13.9°C ± 0.6 torpor bouts and switched roosts every 4.1 d ± 0.6. Probability of arousal from torpor increased linearly with ambient temperature at sunset (P<0.0001, and 83% (n=86 of arousals occurred within 1 hr of sunset. Activity of PIT-tagged bats at an artificial maternity/hibernaculum roost between November and March was positively correlated with ambient temperature at sunset (P<0.0001, with males more active at the roost than females. These data show Rafinesque's big-eared bat is a shallow hibernator and is relatively active during winter. We hypothesize that winter activity patterns provide Corynorhinus species with an ecological and physiological defense against the fungus causing WNS, and that these bats may be better suited to withstand fungal infection than other cave-hibernating bat species in eastern North America.
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Masturbation among women: associated factors and sexual response in a Portuguese community sample.
Carvalheira, Ana; Leal, Isabel
2013-01-01
Masturbation is a common sexual practice with significant variations in reported incidence between men and women. The goal of this study was to explore (a) the age at initiation and frequency of masturbation, (b) the associations of masturbation with diverse variables, (c) the reported reasons for masturbating and associated emotions, and (d) the relation between frequency of masturbation and different sexual behavioral factors. Participants were 3,687 women who completed a web-based survey of previously pilot-tested items. The results reveal a high reported incidence of masturbation practices among this convenience sample of women. Among the women in this sample, 91% indicated that they had masturbated at some point in their lives, and 29.3% reported having masturbated within the past month. Masturbation behavior appears to be related to a greater sexual repertoire, more sexual fantasies, and greater reported ease in reaching sexual arousal and orgasm. Women reported many reasons for masturbation and a variety of direct and indirect techniques. A minority of women reported feeling shame and guilt associated with masturbation. Early masturbation experience might be beneficial to sexual arousal and orgasm in adulthood. Further, this study demonstrates that masturbation is a positive component in the structuring of female sexuality.
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Fibromyalgia and sexual problems
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P. Scarpellini
2012-09-01
Full Text Available The aim of this review was to describe the recent literature concerning sexual dysfunction in fibromyalgic patients. To this end, we used the common online databases PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE (up to June 2012 and searched for the key words fibromyalgia (FM and sexual dysfunction. All the studies examined underlined that FM is strictly associated with sexual dysfunction in women. The major findings observed were related to a decreased sexual desire and arousal, decreased experience of orgasm, and in some studies an increase in genital pain. The psychological aspects, together with the stress related to the constant presence of chronic widespread pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances, are certainly a major factor that adversely affects the sexuality of the patient with FM. Moreover, the drugs most commonly used in these cases may interfere negatively on the sexuality and sexual function of these patients. Therefore, the therapeutic intervention should be targeted and the side effects should be weighed up against the positive effects. It is of the utmost importance to recognise the problem of sexuality and sexual dysfunction in a more complex form of its expression and undertake a multidisciplinary therapeutic intervention to improve the quality of FM patients’ life.
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Detection of arousals in Parkinson's disease patients
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Sørensen, Gertrud Laura; Kempfner, Jacob; Jennum, Poul
2011-01-01
sleepiness. Manual scoring of arousals is time-consuming and the inter-score agreement is highly varying especially for patients with sleep related disorders. The aim of this study was to design an arousal detection algorithm capable of detecting arousals from sleep, in both non-REM and REM sleep in patients......Arousal from sleep are short awakenings, which can be identified in the EEG as an abrupt change in frequency. Arousals can occur in all sleep stages and the number and frequency increase with age. Frequent arousals during sleep results in sleep fragmentation and is associated with daytime...... suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD). The proposed algorithm uses features from EEG, EMG and the manual sleep stage scoring as input to a feed-forward artificial neural network (ANN). The performance of the algorithm has been assessed using polysomnographic (PSG) recordings from a total of 8 patients...
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Female Sexual Dysfunction-Medical and Psychological Treatments, Committee 14.
Kingsberg, Sheryl A; Althof, Stanley; Simon, James A; Bradford, Andrea; Bitzer, Johannes; Carvalho, Joana; Flynn, Kathryn E; Nappi, Rossella E; Reese, Jennifer B; Rezaee, Roya L; Schover, Leslie; Shifrin, Jan L
2017-12-01
Since the millennium we have witnessed significant strides in the science and treatment of female sexual dysfunction (FSD). This forward progress has included (i) the development of new theoretical models to describe healthy and dysfunctional sexual responses in women; (ii) alternative classification strategies of female sexual disorders; (iii) major advances in brain, hormonal, psychological, and interpersonal research focusing on etiologic factors and treatment approaches; (iv) strong and effective public advocacy for FSD; and (v) greater educational awareness of the impact of FSD on the woman and her partner. To review the literature and describe the best practices for assessing and treating women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, female sexual arousal disorder, and female orgasmic disorders. The committee undertook a comprehensive review of the literature and discussion among themselves to determine the best assessment and treatment methods. Using a biopsychosocial lens, the committee presents recommendations (with levels of evidence) for assessment and treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder, female sexual arousal disorder, and female orgasmic disorders. The numerous significant strides in FSD that have occurred since the previous International Consultation of Sexual Medicine publications are reviewed in this article. Although evidence supports an integrated biopsychosocial approach to assessment and treatment of these disorders, the biological and psychological factors are artificially separated for review purposes. We recognize that best outcomes are achieved when all relevant factors are identified and addressed by the clinician and patient working together in concert (the sum is greater than the whole of its parts). Kingsberg SA, Althof S, Simon JA, et al. Female Sexual Dysfunction-Medical and Psychological Treatments, Committee 14. J Sex Med 2017;14:1463-1491. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by
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Congruent bodily arousal promotes the constructive recognition of emotional words.
Kever, Anne; Grynberg, Delphine; Vermeulen, Nicolas
2017-08-01
Considerable research has shown that bodily states shape affect and cognition. Here, we examined whether transient states of bodily arousal influence the categorization speed of high arousal, low arousal, and neutral words. Participants realized two blocks of a constructive recognition task, once after a cycling session (increased arousal), and once after a relaxation session (reduced arousal). Results revealed overall faster response times for high arousal compared to low arousal words, and for positive compared to negative words. Importantly, low arousal words were categorized significantly faster after the relaxation than after the cycling, suggesting that a decrease in bodily arousal promotes the recognition of stimuli matching one's current arousal state. These findings highlight the importance of the arousal dimension in emotional processing, and suggest the presence of arousal-congruency effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sexual behavior and autism spectrum disorders: an update and discussion.
Kellaher, Denise C
2015-04-01
In the last few years, we have gained a deeper understanding about sexuality among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Greater interest in this subject and improvements in the empirical study of ASD populations are driving this enlightenment. The data is dispelling antiquated notions that ASD individuals are asexual, sexually unknowledgeable and inexperienced, and/or disinterested in relationships. We still have a ways to go in examining paraphilic or deviant arousal sexual behaviors among ASD individuals. This manuscript provides an update on sexuality research in ASD in the last few years. This is accompanied by a discussion of the paraphilic type sexual behaviors observed among some ASD individuals.
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Ni Lochlainn, Mary; Kenny, Rose Anne
2013-08-01
Sexuality is an important component of emotional and physical intimacy that men and women experience throughout their lives. Research suggesting that a high proportion of men and women remain sexually active well into later life refutes the prevailing myth that aging and sexual dysfunction are inexorably linked. Age-related physiological changes do not render a meaningful sexual relationship impossible or even necessarily difficult. Many of these physiological changes are modifiable. There are various therapeutic options available to patients to achieve maximum sexual capacity in old age. This article reviews the prevalence of sexual activity among older adults, the problems these adults encounter with sexual activity, and the role of the health care professional in addressing these problems. The physiological sex-related changes that occur as part of the normal aging process in men and women are reviewed, as well as the effect of age-related physical and psychological illness on sexual function. The attitudes and perceptions of the media and general public toward sexual activity and aging are summarized. An understanding of the sexual changes that accompany the aging process may help general practitioners and other doctors to give practical and useful advice on sexuality as well as refute the misconception that aging equates to celibacy. A thorough awareness of this aspect of older people's quality of life can raise meaningful expectations for aging patients. Copyright © 2013 American Medical Directors Association, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zeinab Tavakol
2014-08-01
Full Text Available Introduction: Sexual activity not only is a crucial physiologic need, but also it has been associated with religious, mystical, and historical concepts. The aim of this study was to assess Iranian women’s sexual satisfaction and its correlating factors. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study at South Tehran health centers (STHCs, which were affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran. A convenience sample consist of 405 women who were married, had at least sixth-grade literacy level, were not addicted to opioids or alcohol, had no history of infertility, psychiatric, and physical disorders, and referred to STHCs to receive Primary Health Care services. Main outcome measures were women’s demographics, sexual function, and sexual satisfaction were assessed by a questionnaire. Results: Most women (58.2% had moderate sexual satisfaction. A significant direct association was shown between sexual satisfaction and couple’s educational level (P < 0.001, partner’s higher income (P = 0.037, regular menstruation (P = 0.005, and degree of woman’s love toward her partner (P < 0.001. There was a significant indirect association between sexual satisfaction and gravidity number (P = 0.029, and number of offspring (P = 0.006. Having sexual intercourse at least once a week (P = 0.003, equal sex request (P = 0.028, accepting partner’s request pleasingly (P < 0.001, experiencing sexual arousal (P < 0.001, and lubrication (P < 0.001 was directly associated with sexual satisfaction. Dyspareunia (P < 0.001 and difficulty to reach orgasm (P < 0.001 showed significant indirect association. Conclusion: Women sexual satisfaction associates with interpersonal and sexual factors. Creating opportunity for midwives in health centers to consult with couples, assess their quality of sexual function, educate them, and refer them to specialists if needed, is strongly recommended for healthcare systems of Iran.
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Emotions and false memories: valence or arousal?
Corson, Yves; Verrier, Nadège
2007-03-01
The effects of mood on false memories have not been studied systematically until recently. Some results seem to indicate that negative mood may reduce false recall and thus suggest an influence of emotional valence on false memory. The present research tested the effects of both valence and arousal on recall and recognition and indicates that the effect is actually due to arousal. In fact, whether participants' mood is positive, negative, or neutral, false memories are significantly more frequent under conditions of high arousal than under conditions of low arousal.
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Management of sexual problems: the approach of mindfulness.
Vilarinho, Sandra
2017-11-01
During the last 10 years mindfulness has been progressively integrated into protocols for the management of sexual problems. The purpose of this study is to systematize potential benefits of mindfulness in sexual well-being (considering mind, emotion, and body), and to shortly review current applications and effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions to the treatment of sexual problems. The majority of evidence available focuses on women's sexual desire and arousal problems, although there are also preliminary findings for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in enhancing other components of the sexual response. Relationship issues, sexual pain, sexual abuse, and sexual distress have also revealed to benefit from mindfulness-based interventions. The practice of mindfulness is a promising clinical approach with encouraging results for women's sexual problems. Further empirical research with different populations and greater methodological rigour is still needed to clarify the effectiveness of mindfulness as a specific component and the mechanisms contributing to therapeutic change.
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Blom, Rianne M; van der Wal, Sija J; Vulink, Nienke C; Denys, Damiaan
2017-08-01
Body integrity identity disorder (BIID)-a strong desire for amputation or paralysis-is often accompanied by feelings and cognitions of sexual arousal, although this sexual component has been largely neglected in the recent literature. To examine the presence of BIID-related sexual arousal in subjects with BIID and explore clinical and demographic variables of subjects with BIID who do and do not possess this sexual arousal. Eighty individuals with BIID responded to an internet-based survey we created. For all subjects, restoring identity was the primary motivation for preferred body modification. We collected data about respondents' demographic, clinical, and sexual characteristics. Based on responses to questions about BIID-specific sexual desires, subjects were assigned to the group with BIID-related sexual feelings (S-BIID; n = 57) or the group without such feelings (NS-BIID; n = 23). Differences in clinical, demographic, and sexual characteristics between S-BIID and NS-BIID groups. Of the respondents, 71.3% endorsed S-BIID. Subjects with S-BIID were significantly more often men, religious, and of a homosexual identity compared with the NS-BIID group. Subjects with S-BIID also significantly more often reported a change in localization and/or intensity of their BIID feelings over time. Furthermore, 66.7% of subjects with S-BIID reported S-BIID as an additional motivation for body modification. Seven of the 57 subjects with S-BIID achieved their preferred body modification through (self)-amputation, whereas none of the subjects with NS-BIID did. BIID is a heterogeneous disorder in which subjects who self-reported comorbid sexual arousal more often resorted to (self-induced) amputation. This study contains the largest BIID cohort presented in the literature and is the first to genuinely research sexuality in BIID. The first limitation is the lack of face-to-face interviews with the subjects, so no clinical diagnoses could be made. Moreover, there is an
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Ashcraft, Catherine
2006-01-01
Teens encounter a barrage of messages about sexuality in popular culture--messages that shape their identities and schooling experiences in profound ways. Meanwhile, teen sexuality, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increasingly arouse public panic. To date, however, schools do little to help teens make sense of their…
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[Impact of childhood sexual abuse on the sexual and affective relationships of adult women].
López, Sílvia; Faro, Concepció; Lopetegui, Lourdes; Pujol-Ribera, Enriqueta; Monteagudo, Mònica; Cobo, Jesús; Fernández, María Isabel
To analyse perceived sexual satisfaction, sexual dysfunction, satisfaction with affective relationships and confidence and communication in existing relationships, related to a past history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and type suffered, among women treated as part of the Catalonian Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Programme (PASSIR). Multicentric, descriptive, cross-sectional study. A total of 1,013 women over the age of 18 years, who underwent psychological therapy at any of the 24 PASSIR centres, were enrolled. A structured, anonymised, self-administered Sex History Questionnaire adapted from Wyatt (1985) & Dubé et al. (2005), and the Female Sexual Function Index (Rosen, 2000), were used. Statistical analysis was descriptive, bivariate and multivariate. Women who suffered childhood sexual abuse had a significantly higher prevalence of sexual dysfunction, with lower perceived sexual satisfaction. CSA with penetration or attempted penetration was associated with greater arousal difficulties and greater rejection. Women who experienced CSA were less confident and experienced greater communication difficulties with their partner. It is necessary to identify potential childhood sexual abuse among women who seek therapy due to relationship problems. It is also necessary to continue research into protective factors and therapeutic interventions to alleviate the consequences of CSA in adult life. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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No arousal-biased competition in focused visuospatial attention.
Ásgeirsson, Árni Gunnar; Nieuwenhuis, Sander
2017-11-01
Arousal sometimes enhances and sometimes impairs perception and memory. A recent theory attempts to reconcile these findings by proposing that arousal amplifies the competition between stimulus representations, strengthening already strong representations and weakening already weak representations. Here, we report a stringent test of this arousal-biased competition theory in the context of focused visuospatial attention. Participants were required to identify a briefly presented target in the context of multiple distractors, which varied in the degree to which they competed for representation with the target, as revealed by psychophysics. We manipulated arousal using emotionally arousing pictures (Experiment 1), alerting tones (Experiment 2) and white-noise stimulation (Experiment 3), and validated these manipulations with electroencephalography and pupillometry. In none of the experiments did we find evidence that arousal modulated the effect of distractor competition on the accuracy of target identification. Bayesian statistics revealed moderate to strong evidence against arousal-biased competition. Modeling of the psychophysical data based on Bundesen's (1990) theory of visual attention corroborated the conclusion that arousal does not bias competition in focused visuospatial attention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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[Human orgasm from the physiological perspective--part II].
Gałecki, Piotr; Depko, Andrzej; Jedrzejewska, Sylwia; Talarowska, Monika
2012-08-01
In contrast to the male orgasm, female orgasm is characterized by high variability and diversity, not only in the general population, but also during the life. Women experience sexual pleasure on many levels: physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual. Sexual functioning of women and men is determined by many factors. A strong correlation between the state of subjective arousal and genital response (erection) is typical for men. In the case of women important role played: emotions, cognitive interpretation of the situation, age, self-esteem and previous sexual experiences. Among women experience orgasm during intercourse or masturbation is not a goal in itself. Modern approach to the phenomenon of orgasm and sexual education of women, make absence of orgasm as a failure. It becomes a source of low self-esteem, less self-confidence or sense of lack of attractiveness.
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Can Arousal Modulate Response Inhibition?
Weinbach, Noam; Kalanthroff, Eyal; Avnit, Amir; Henik, Avishai
2015-01-01
The goal of the present study was to examine if and how arousal can modulate response inhibition. Two competing hypotheses can be drawn from previous literature. One holds that alerting cues that elevate arousal should result in an impulsive response and therefore impair response inhibition. The other suggests that alerting enhances processing of…
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Caffeine effects on resting-state arousal.
Barry, Robert J; Rushby, Jacqueline A; Wallace, Mark J; Clarke, Adam R; Johnstone, Stuart J; Zlojutro, Ilinka
2005-11-01
This study examined the use of caffeine to manipulate arousal level without the confounds associated with task-related activation. From previous work in our laboratory, an increase in skin conductance level (SCL) and EEG alpha frequency, together with a global decrease in alpha power, were used as markers of arousal increase, and we sought to identify these effects with caffeine ingestion. We examined the effect of a single oral dose of caffeine (250 mg) in a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled repeated-measures cross-over study. Eighteen healthy university students (mean age 21 years; 13/18 females) participated in two sessions 1 week apart. EEG and autonomic data (SCL, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and respiration rate) from a 2 min eyes-closed epoch, commencing approximately 30 min after ingestion of caffeine or placebo, were examined. Caffeine was associated with increased SCL, a global reduction in EEG power in the alpha band, and a global increase in alpha frequency. There were no cardiovascular effects. The positive results are consistent with recent electrodermal and EEG studies of arousal and suggest that caffeine may be utilised as a task-free means of manipulating arousal in future investigations. Further work is necessary to clarify the absence of cardiovascular effects, and to integrate those data with emerging conceptualisations of arousal and activation. The present data support the use of caffeine as a simple tool to explore the role of arousal in both normal and atypical functioning, and this may be useful in determining the validity and importance of supposed hyper- or hypo-arousal in such syndromes as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).
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Synchronized arousal between performers and related spectators in a fire-walking ritual
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Konvalinka, Ivana; Xygalatas, Dimitris; Bulbulia, Joseph
2011-01-01
during the 30-min ritual between fire-walkers and related spectators but not unrelated spectators. This indicates that the mediating mechanism may be informational, because participants and related observers had very different bodily behavior. This study demonstrates that a collective ritual may evoke......Collective rituals are present in all known societies, but their function is a matter of long-standing debates. Field observations suggest that they may enhance social cohesion and that their effects are not limited to those actively performing but affect the audience as well. Here we show...... synchronized arousal over time between active participants and bystanders. It links field observations to a physiological basis and offers a unique approach for the quantification of social effects on human physiology during real-world interactions....
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Physiological correlates of stress-induced decrements in human perceptual performance.
1993-11-01
Stress-induced changes in human performance have been thought to result from alterations in the "multidimensional arousal state" of the individual, as indexed by alterations in the physiological and psychological mechanisms controlling performance. I...
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Schoorl, Jantiene; Van Rijn, Sophie; De Wied, Minet; Van Goozen, Stephanie H M; Swaab, Hanna
2016-08-01
It is often reported that children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or conduct disorder (CD) are under-aroused. However, the evidence is mixed, with some children with ODD/CD displaying high arousal. This has led to the hypothesis that different profiles of arousal dysfunction may exist within children with ODD/CD. This knowledge could explain variability within children with ODD/CD, both in terms of specific types of aggression as well as comorbid symptoms (e.g., other emotional/behavioral problems). We measured heart rate variability (HRV), heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) during rest and stress, and obtained parent and teacher reports of aggression, anxiety, attention problems and autism traits in a sample of 66 ODD/CD and 36 non-clinical boys (aged 8-12 years). The ODD/CD group scored significantly higher on aggression, anxiety, attention problems and autism traits than the controls; boys with ODD/CD also had higher resting HRs than controls, but HR stress, HRV and SCL did not differ. Hierarchical regressions showed different physiological profiles in subgroups of boys with ODD/CD based on their type of aggression; a pattern of high baseline HR and SCL, but low stress HRV was related to reactive aggression, whereas the opposite physiological pattern (low HR, low stress SCL, high stress HRV) was related to proactive aggression. Furthermore, high stress SCL was related to anxiety symptoms, whereas low stress SCL was related to attention problems. These findings are important because they indicate heterogeneity within boys with ODD/CD and highlight the importance of using physiology to differentiate boys with different ODD/CD subtypes.
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Behavioural and physiological effects of finely balanced decision-making in chickens.
Davies, Anna C; Nicol, Christine J; Persson, Mia E; Radford, Andrew N
2014-01-01
In humans, more difficult decisions result in behavioural and physiological changes suggestive of increased arousal, but little is known about the effect of decision difficulty in other species. A difficult decision can have a number of characteristics; we aimed to monitor how finely balanced decisions, compared to unbalanced ones, affected the behaviour and physiology of chickens. An unbalanced decision was one in which the two options were of unequal net value (1 (Q1) vs. 6 (Q6) pieces of sweetcorn with no cost associated with either option); a finely balanced decision was one in which the options were of equal net value (i.e. hens were "indifferent" to both options). To identify hens' indifference, a titration procedure was used in which a cost (electromagnetic weight on an access door) was applied to the Q6 option, to find the individual point at which hens chose this option approximately equally to Q1 via a non-weighted door. We then compared behavioural and physiological indicators of arousal (head movements, latency to choose, heart-rate variability and surface body temperature) when chickens made decisions that were unbalanced or finely balanced. Significant physiological (heart-rate variability) and behavioural (latency to pen) differences were found between the finely balanced and balanced conditions, but these were likely to be artefacts of the greater time and effort required to push through the weighted doors. No other behavioural and physiological measures were significantly different between the decision categories. We suggest that more information is needed on when best to monitor likely changes in arousal during decision-making and that future studies should consider decisions defined as difficult in other ways.
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Behavioural and physiological effects of finely balanced decision-making in chickens.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Anna C Davies
Full Text Available In humans, more difficult decisions result in behavioural and physiological changes suggestive of increased arousal, but little is known about the effect of decision difficulty in other species. A difficult decision can have a number of characteristics; we aimed to monitor how finely balanced decisions, compared to unbalanced ones, affected the behaviour and physiology of chickens. An unbalanced decision was one in which the two options were of unequal net value (1 (Q1 vs. 6 (Q6 pieces of sweetcorn with no cost associated with either option; a finely balanced decision was one in which the options were of equal net value (i.e. hens were "indifferent" to both options. To identify hens' indifference, a titration procedure was used in which a cost (electromagnetic weight on an access door was applied to the Q6 option, to find the individual point at which hens chose this option approximately equally to Q1 via a non-weighted door. We then compared behavioural and physiological indicators of arousal (head movements, latency to choose, heart-rate variability and surface body temperature when chickens made decisions that were unbalanced or finely balanced. Significant physiological (heart-rate variability and behavioural (latency to pen differences were found between the finely balanced and balanced conditions, but these were likely to be artefacts of the greater time and effort required to push through the weighted doors. No other behavioural and physiological measures were significantly different between the decision categories. We suggest that more information is needed on when best to monitor likely changes in arousal during decision-making and that future studies should consider decisions defined as difficult in other ways.
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Brom, Mirte; Both, Stephanie; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip
2014-01-01
Many theories of human sexual behavior assume that sexual stimuli obtain arousing properties through associative learning processes. It is widely accepted that classical conditioning contributes to the etiology of both normal and maladaptive human behaviors. Despite the hypothesized importance of
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Brom, M.; Both, S.; Laan, E.; Everaerd, W.; Spinhoven, P.
Many theories of human sexual behavior assume that sexual stimuli obtain arousing properties through associative learning processes. It is widely accepted that classical conditioning contributes to the etiology of both normal and maladaptive human behaviors. Despite the hypothesized importance of
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Carvalho, Sandra; Leite, Jorge; Galdo-Álvarez, Santiago; Gonçalves, Oscar F
2011-01-01
Some authors have speculated that the cognitive component (P3) of the Event-Related Potential (ERP) can function as a psychophysiological measure of sexual interest. The aim of this study was to determine if the P3 ERP component in a workload task can be used as a specific and objective measure of sexual motivation by comparing the neurophysiologic response to stimuli of motivational relevance with different levels of valence and arousal. A total of 30 healthy volunteers watched different films clips with erotic, horror, social-positive and social-negative content, while answering an auditory oddball paradigm. Erotic film clips resulted in larger interference when compared to both the social-positive and auditory alone conditions. Horror film clips resulted in the highest levels of interference with smaller P3 amplitudes than erotic and also than social-positive, social-negative and auditory alone condition. No gender differences were found. Both horror and erotic film clips significantly decreased heart rate (HR) when compared to both social-positive and social-negative films. The erotic film clips significantly increased the skin conductance level (SCL) compared to the social-negative films. The horror film clips significantly increased the SCL compared to both social-positive and social-negative films. Both the highly arousing erotic and non-erotic (horror) movies produced the largest decrease in the P3 amplitude, a decrease in the HR and an increase in the SCL. These data support the notion that this workload task is very sensitive to the attentional resources allocated to the film clip, although they do not act as a specific index of sexual interest. Therefore, the use of this methodology seems to be of questionable utility as a specific measure of sexual interest or as an objective measure of the severity of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. © 2011 Carvalho et al.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sandra Carvalho
Full Text Available Some authors have speculated that the cognitive component (P3 of the Event-Related Potential (ERP can function as a psychophysiological measure of sexual interest. The aim of this study was to determine if the P3 ERP component in a workload task can be used as a specific and objective measure of sexual motivation by comparing the neurophysiologic response to stimuli of motivational relevance with different levels of valence and arousal. A total of 30 healthy volunteers watched different films clips with erotic, horror, social-positive and social-negative content, while answering an auditory oddball paradigm. Erotic film clips resulted in larger interference when compared to both the social-positive and auditory alone conditions. Horror film clips resulted in the highest levels of interference with smaller P3 amplitudes than erotic and also than social-positive, social-negative and auditory alone condition. No gender differences were found. Both horror and erotic film clips significantly decreased heart rate (HR when compared to both social-positive and social-negative films. The erotic film clips significantly increased the skin conductance level (SCL compared to the social-negative films. The horror film clips significantly increased the SCL compared to both social-positive and social-negative films. Both the highly arousing erotic and non-erotic (horror movies produced the largest decrease in the P3 amplitude, a decrease in the HR and an increase in the SCL. These data support the notion that this workload task is very sensitive to the attentional resources allocated to the film clip, although they do not act as a specific index of sexual interest. Therefore, the use of this methodology seems to be of questionable utility as a specific measure of sexual interest or as an objective measure of the severity of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder.
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Age-Related Reduction of Recovery Sleep and Arousal Threshold in Drosophila
Vienne, Julie; Spann, Ryanne; Guo, Fang; Rosbash, Michael
2016-01-01
Study Objectives: Physiological studies show that aging affects both sleep quality and quantity in humans, and sleep complaints increase with age. Along with knowledge about the negative effects of poor sleep on health, understanding the enigmatic relationship between sleep and aging is important. Because human sleep is similar to Drosophila (fruit fly) sleep in many ways, we addressed the effects of aging on sleep in this model organism. Methods: Baseline sleep was recorded in five different Drosophila genotypes raised at either 21°C or 25°C. The amount of sleep recovered was then investigated after a nighttime of sleep deprivation (12 h) and after chronic sleep deprivation (3 h every night for multiple nights). Finally, the effects of aging on arousal, namely, sensitivity to neuronal and mechanical stimuli, were studied. Results: We show that fly sleep is affected by age in a manner similar to that of humans and other mammals. Not only do older flies of several genotypes have more fragmented sleep and reduced total sleep time compared to young flies, but older flies also fail to recover as much sleep after sleep deprivation. This suggests either lower sleep homeostasis and/or a failure to properly recover sleep. Older flies also show a decreased arousal threshold, i.e., an increased response to neuronal and mechanical wake-promoting stimuli. The reduced threshold may either reflect or cause the reduced recovery sleep of older flies compared to young flies after sleep deprivation. Conclusions: Further studies are certainly needed, but we suggest that the lower homeostatic sleep drive of older flies causes their decreased arousal threshold. Citation: Vienne J, Spann R, Guo F, Rosbash M. Age-related reduction of recovery sleep and arousal threshold in Drosophila. SLEEP 2016;39(8):1613–1624. PMID:27306274
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gianluca Esposito
Full Text Available Infants universally elicit in adults a set of solicitous behaviors that are evolutionarily important for the survival of the species. However, exposure, experience, and prejudice appear to govern adults' social choice and ingroup attitudes towards other adults. In the current study, physiological arousal and behavioral judgments were assessed while adults processed unfamiliar infant and adult faces of ingroup vs. outgroup members in two contrasting cultures, Japan and Italy. Physiological arousal was investigated using the novel technique of infrared thermography and behavioral judgments using ratings. We uncovered a dissociation between physiological and behavioral responses. At the physiological level, both Japanese and Italian adults showed significant activation (increase of facial temperature for both ingroup and outgroup infant faces. At the behavioral level, both Japanese and Italian adults showed significant preferences for ingroup adults. Arousal responses to infants appear to be mediated by the autonomic nervous system and are not dependent on direct caregiving exposure, but behavioral responses appear to be mediated by higher-order cognitive processing based on social acceptance and cultural exposure.
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The effect of a dopamine antagonist on conditioning of sexual arousal in women
Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Trimbos, Baptist; Both, Stephanie
2016-01-01
Dopamine (DA) plays a key role in reward-seeking behaviours. Accumulating evidence from animal and human studies suggests that human sexual reward learning may also depend on DA transmission. However, research on the role of DA in human sexual reward learning is completely lacking. To investigate
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Ventilatory response to induced auditory arousals during NREM sleep.
Badr, M S; Morgan, B J; Finn, L; Toiber, F S; Crabtree, D C; Puleo, D S; Skatrud, J B
1997-09-01
Sleep state instability is a potential mechanism of central apnea/hypopnea during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. To investigate this postulate, we induced brief arousals by delivering transient (0.5 second) auditory stimuli during stable NREM sleep in eight normal subjects. Arousal was determined according to American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) criteria. A total of 96 trials were conducted; 59 resulted in cortical arousal and 37 did not result in arousal. In trials associated with arousal, minute ventilation (VE) increased from 5.1 +/- 1.24 minutes to 7.5 +/- 2.24 minutes on the first posttone breath (p = 0.001). However, no subsequent hypopnea or apnea occurred as VE decreased gradually to 4.8 +/- 1.5 l/minute (p > 0.05) on the fifth posttone breath. Trials without arousal did not result in hyperpnea on the first breath nor subsequent hypopnea. We conclude that 1) auditory stimulation resulted in transient hyperpnea only if associated with cortical arousal; 2) hypopnea or apnea did not occur following arousal-induced hyperpnea in normal subjects; 3) interaction with fluctuating chemical stimuli or upper airway resistance may be required for arousals to cause sleep-disordered breathing.
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How Arousal Affects Younger and Older Adults' Memory Binding
Nashiro, Kaoru; Mather, Mara
2009-01-01
A number of recent studies have shown that associative memory for within-item features is enhanced for emotionally arousing items, whereas arousal-enhanced binding is not seen for associations between distinct items (for a review see Mather, 2007). The costs and benefits of arousal in memory binding have been examined for younger adults but not for older adults. The present experiment examined whether arousal would enhance younger and older adults' within-item and between-item memory binding. The results revealed that arousal improved younger adults' within-item memory binding but not that of older adults. Arousal worsened both groups' between-item memory binding. PMID:21240821
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Gračanin, Asmir; van Assen, Marcel A L M|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/407629971; Omrčen, Višnja; Koraj, Ivana; Vingerhoets, Ad J J M
2016-01-01
Gelstein et al. reported the results of three experiments suggesting a dampening influence of inhalation of female emotional tears on males' arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, specifically in non-sexual situations. This prompted the hypothesis that crying exerts its influence on
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Gracanin, A.; van Assen, M.A.L.M.; Omrčen, Višnja; Koraj, Ivana; Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.
2017-01-01
Gelstein et al. reported the results of three experiments suggesting a dampening influence of inhalation of female emotional tears on males' arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, specifically in non-sexual situations. This prompted the hypothesis that crying exerts its influence on
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Melles, Reinhilde J.; Dewitte, Marieke D.; ter Kuile, Moniek M.; Peters, Madelon M.L.; Jong, de Peter J.
Introduction Current information processing models propose that heightened attention bias for sex-related threats (eg, pain) and lowered automatic incentive processes (“wanting”) may play an important role in the impairment of sexual arousal and the development of sexual dysfunctions such as
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The Carotid Body and Arousal in the Fetus and Neonate
2012-01-01
Arousal from sleep is a major defense mechanism in infants against hypoxia and/or hypercapnia. Arousal failure may be an important contributor to SIDS. Areas of the brainstem that have been found to be abnormal in a majority of SIDS infants are involved in the arousal process. Arousal is sleep state dependent, being depressed during AS in most mammals, but depressed during QS in human infants. Repeated exposure to hypoxia causes a progressive blunting of arousal that may involve medullary raphe GABAergic mechanisms. Whereas CB chemoreceptors contribute heavily to arousal in response to hypoxia, serotonergic central chemoreceptors have been implicated in the arousal response to CO2. Pulmonary or chest wall mechanoreceptors also contribute to arousal in proportion to the ventilatory response and decreases in their input may contribute to depressed arousal during AS. Little is known about specific arousal pathways beyond the NTS. Whether CB chemoreceptor stimulation directly stimulates arousal centers or whether this is done indirectly through respiratory networks remains unknown. This review will focus on arousal in response to hypoxia and CO2 in the fetus and newborn and will outline what we know (and don’t know) about the involvement of the carotid body in this process. PMID:22684039
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Brownlee-Bouboulis, Sarah A; Reeder, DeeAnn M
2013-10-01
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging infectious disease of hibernating bats linked to the death of an estimated 5.7 million or more bats in the northeastern United States and Canada. White-nose syndrome is caused by the cold-loving fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), which invades the skin of the muzzles, ears, and wings of hibernating bats. Previous work has shown that WNS-affected bats arouse to euthermic or near euthermic temperatures during hibernation significantly more frequently than normal and that these too-frequent arousals are tied to severity of infection and death date. We quantified the behavior of bats during these arousal bouts to understand better the causes and consequences of these arousals. We hypothesized that WNS-affected bats would display increased levels of activity (especially grooming) during their arousal bouts from hibernation compared to WNS-unaffected bats. Behavior of both affected and unaffected hibernating bats in captivity was monitored from December 2010 to March 2011 using temperature-sensitive dataloggers attached to the backs of bats and infrared motion-sensitive cameras. The WNS-affected bats exhibited significantly higher rates of grooming, relative to unaffected bats, at the expense of time that would otherwise be spent inactive. Increased self-grooming may be related to the presence of the fungus. Elevated activity levels in affected bats likely increase energetic stress, whereas the loss of rest (inactive periods when aroused from torpor) may jeopardize the ability of a bat to reestablish homeostasis in a number of physiologic systems.
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McClusky, Leon Mendel
2012-01-01
The traditional presentation of the Reproductive Physiology component in an Anatomy and Physiology course to nursing undergraduates focuses on the broad aspects of hormonal regulation of reproduction and gonadal anatomy, with the role of the higher centres of the brain omitted. An introductory discussion is proposed which could precede the lectures on the reproductive organs. The discussion gives an overview of the biological significance of human pleasure, the involvement of the neurotransmitter dopamine, and the role of pleasure in the survival of the individual and even species. Pleasure stimuli (positive and negative) and the biological significance of naturally-induced pleasurable experiences are briefly discussed in the context of reproduction and the preservation of genetic material with an aim to foster relevancy between subject material and human behaviour in any type of society. The tenderness of this aspect of the human existence is well-understood because of its invariable association with soul-revealing human expressions such as love, infatuation, sexual flirtations, all of which are underpinned by arousal, desire and/or pleasure. Assuming that increased knowledge correlates with increased confidence, the proposed approach may provide the nurse with an adequate knowledge base to overcome well-known barriers in communicating with their patients about matters of sexual health and intimacy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Detection of arousals in Parkinson’s disease patients
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Sørensen, Gertrud Laura; Kempfner, Jacob; Jennum, Poul
2011-01-01
sleepiness. Manual scoring of arousals is time-consuming and the inter-score agreement is highly varying especially for patients with sleep related disorders. The aim of this study was to design an arousal detection algorithm capable of detecting arousals from sleep, in both non-REM and REM sleep in patients......Arousal from sleep are short awakenings, which can be identified in the EEG as an abrupt change in frequency. Arousals can occur in all sleep stages and the number and frequency increase with age. Frequent arousals during sleep results in sleep fragmentation and is associated with daytime...... suffering from Parkinson’s disease (PD). The proposed algorithm uses features from EEG, EMG and the manual sleep stage scoring as input to a feed-forward artificial neural network (ANN). The performance of the algorithm has been assessed using polysomnographic (PSG) recordings from a total of 8 patients...
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Zhang, Chunni; Tong, Jiali; Zhu, Lan; Zhang, Lei; Xu, Tao; Lang, Jinghe; Xie, Yu
2017-11-01
Epidemiologic data on female sexual dysfunction in China are sparse. To assess the prevalence of risk of female sexual dysfunction in mainland China and its regional and sociodemographic variations and physiologic, pathologic, and behavioral risk factors. A survey of the general female population was conducted in mainland China from February 2014 through January 2016. Women were randomly selected using multistage, stratified, cluster sampling. The prevalence rate of sexual dysfunction, as measured by the Female Sexual Function Index and a score lower than 23.45 as the cutoff threshold, was determined. Multivariate logistical regression models were used to examine the effects of sociodemographic, physiologic, pathologic, and behavioral factors on women's risk of experiencing sexual dysfunction and domain-specific sexual problems. The questionnaire on sexual dysfunction was completed by 25,446 women 20 to 70 years old. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in women 20 to 70 years old in mainland China was estimated at 29.7% (99% CI = 28.9-30.4), with large regional variations. The prevalence rates of potential domain-specific sexual problems were 21.6% (99% CI = 20.9-22.2) for low desire, 21.5 (99% CI = 20.8-22.2) for arousal disorder, 18.9% (99% CI = 18.3-19.6) for lubrication disorder, 27.9% (99% CI = 27.2-28.7) for orgasm disorder, and 14.1% (99% CI = 13.6-14.7) for sexual pain. Higher educational attainment and urban residency were associated with a decreased risk of sexual dysfunction. Women of ethnic minorities (or non-Han ethnicity) had fewer reports of sexual dysfunction than women of Han ethnicity (odds ratio = 0.67, 99% CI = 0.47-0.97). Diabetes, cancers, pelvic inflammatory disease, and pelvic organ prolapse significantly increased the reports of sexual dysfunction. This survey provided the prevalence and risk factors of female sexual dysfunction in China, information that could be useful for potential prevention and clinical treatment. This is
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Examining the sexual function and related attitudes among aged women: A cross- sectional study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Safieh Jamali
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Background: Sexual function and its subsequent satisfaction are among the most important aspects of women’s life. However, this instinct could be influenced by some factors such as diseases, drug using, aging, and hormonal and physiologic changes associated with menopause, and sexual behavior. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence rates of sexual dysfunction, and related attitudes among aged women in Jahrom, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 746 postmenopausal women aged between 50 and 89 years old who had referred to obstetric and gynecologic clinic in Jahrom, from April to October 2014. Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire was used order to assess the sexual function. The cases were classified into three categories according to the attitude scores: negative (17-32, medium (33-38, and positive (39-48. One-way ANOVA test was used to determine the relationship between FSFI and attitude scores. Results: The participants’ mean±SD age was 60.10±6.89 years and the total mean score of FSFI was 19.31±8.5. In addition, 81.5% of the women had sexual dysfunction (FSFI 26.55. Almost 62.1% the women displayed a negative attitude towards sexuality and only 18.8% women had positive attitude. Feeling of dyspareunia (p= 0.02, lubrication (p< 0.0001, orgasm (p= 0.002 and satisfaction (p= 0.002 were significantly different between three categories of attitudes regarding sexuality, respectively Conclusion: Our data showed that sexual disorders were highly prevalent among postmenopausal women. The most affected problems were arousal, dyspareunia, and lubrication. More than half of the women had negative attitude towards sexual function consequently this could affect their sexual function. So, it seems screening of sexual dysfunction for finding the causes in women should be the main sexual health program. Also, it would be important to emphasis the role of physicians and experts on
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Arousal, mood, and the Mozart effect.
Thompson, W F; Schellenberg, E G; Husain, G
2001-05-01
The "Mozart effect" refers to claims that people perform better on tests of spatial abilities after listening to music composed by Mozart. We examined whether the Mozart effect is a consequence of between-condition differences in arousal and mood. Participants completed a test of spatial abilities after listening to music or sitting in silence. The music was a Mozart sonata (a pleasant and energetic piece) for some participants and an Albinoni adagio (a slow, sad piece) for others. We also measured enjoyment, arousal, and mood. Performance on tbe spatial task was better following the music than the silence condition but only for participants who heard Mozart. The two music selections also induced differential responding on the enjoyment, arousal and mood measures. Moreover, when such differences were held constant by statistical means, the Mozart effect disappeared. These findings provide compelling evidence that the Mozart effect is an artifact of arousal and mood.
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Goldsmith, Kaitlyn M; Byers, E Sandra
2016-06-01
This study investigated the messages individuals receive from their partners about their bodies and their perceived impact on body image and sexual well-being. Young adult men (n=35) and women (n=57) completed open-ended questions identifying messages they had received from partners and the impact of these messages on their body image and sexual well-being. Content coding revealed three verbal (expressions of approval and pride, challenging negative beliefs, expressions of sexual attraction/arousal/desire) and two nonverbal (physical affection, physical expressions of sexual attraction/arousal/desire) positive messages as well as one verbal (disapproval/disgust) and two nonverbal (rejection, humiliation) negative messages. Some participants reported gender-related messages (muscularity/strength, genital appearance, breast appearance, weight, and comparison to others). Positive messages were seen to increase confidence, self-acceptance, and sexual empowerment/fulfillment, whereas negative messages decreased these feelings. Our findings suggest that even everyday, seemingly neutral messages are perceived to have an important impact on young adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Can sustained arousal explain the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eriksen Hege R
2009-02-01
Full Text Available Abstract We present an integrative model of disease mechanisms in the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS, unifying empirical findings from different research traditions. Based upon the Cognitive activation theory of stress (CATS, we argue that new data on cardiovascular and thermoregulatory regulation indicate a state of permanent arousal responses – sustained arousal – in this condition. We suggest that sustained arousal can originate from different precipitating factors (infections, psychosocial challenges interacting with predisposing factors (genetic traits, personality and learned expectancies (classical and operant conditioning. Furthermore, sustained arousal may explain documented alterations by establishing vicious circles within immunology (Th2 (humoral vs Th1 (cellular predominance, endocrinology (attenuated HPA axis, skeletal muscle function (attenuated cortical activation, increased oxidative stress and cognition (impaired memory and information processing. Finally, we propose a causal link between sustained arousal and the experience of fatigue. The model of sustained arousal embraces all main findings concerning CFS disease mechanisms within one theoretical framework.
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Levin, Roy J
2011-06-01
Spermatozoal uptake, facilitated by uterine contractions induced by oxytocin at orgasm during coitus, has been a long term concept. Studies attempting its support, however, have been poorly examined especially in the context of the changes in the female genital tract activated by sexual arousal. To examine experimental support for the concept. Using a variety of search engines, mainly peer reviewed articles and un-reviewed books were examined relating to sperm transport and function in the human female genital tract in the absence and presence of arousal to orgasm. Identifying evidence-based data to support authority-based opinion. All the experimental observations of sperm or model substitute's transport have been undertaken in women who were not sexually aroused. They fail to take into account that arousal creates vaginal tenting lifting the cervico-uterine complex into the false pelvis away from the ejaculated semen. This delays sperm uptake and transport making conclusions from these observations invalid in relation to transport during coitus. Studies injecting oxytocin have not used women in their sexually aroused state and used supraphysiological doses unlikely to be comparable with coitus and orgasm. The proposal that the transport of extra sperm by oxytocin-induced uterine contractions at orgasm is needed to facilitate fertility ignores possible harm from increased sperm numbers creating polyspermy and sperm enzyme release causing ovum degeneration, leading to decreased fertility. The role of sperm motility in their uptake from the vagina into the cervix as opposed to en bloc transfer through uterine archimyometrial-mediated transport in the absence of orgasm is at present unresolvable because of conflicting studies. The bulk of the reported evidence favors the conclusion that the female orgasm, with its concomitant central release of oxytocin, has little or no effective role in the transport of spermatozoa in natural human coitus. © 2010 International
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Marchant, Natalie L; Trawley, Steven; Rusted, Jennifer M
2008-05-01
Previous studies have reported that nicotine, a cholinergic agonist, could improve prospective memory (PM) - memory for a delayed intention - in healthy young adults. In the present study, we asked whether nicotine effects on PM performance were attributable to a drug-induced non-specific increase in arousal. Therefore, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared the effect of nicotine to the effect of an arousal manipulation on PM performance. All participants were non-smokers; half received 1 mg nicotine via a nasal spray and half received a matched placebo. Within these groups, half of the volunteers were exposed to hard anagrams and exhibited heightened tense arousal, while half of the volunteers were given easy anagrams and showed no change in arousal. These manipulations resulted in four conditions, placebo/low-arousal (n=12), placebo/high-arousal (n=10), nicotine/low-arousal (n=12), nicotine/high-arousal (n=13). All participants completed an ongoing lexical decision task while maintaining a PM intention (to make a separate, non-focal, response to certain items embedded within the ongoing task). When introduced separately, both nicotine and high tense arousal improved PM performance, but when combined, this improvement was eliminated. It is argued that both nicotine and high tense arousal increase attentional resources, specifically improving monitoring of the PM targets, but when combined they no longer produce beneficial effects. Additionally, given that nicotine exerted no effect on physiological or subjective measures of arousal, we conclude that the observed effects of nicotine and of arousal on PM performance are driven by different pharmacological mechanisms.
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Frequent arousals from winter torpor in Rafinesque's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii).
Johnson, Joseph S; Lacki, Michael J; Thomas, Steven C; Grider, John F
2012-01-01
Extensive use of torpor is a common winter survival strategy among bats; however, data comparing various torpor behaviors among species are scarce. Winter torpor behaviors are likely to vary among species with different physiologies and species inhabiting different regional climates. Understanding these differences may be important in identifying differing susceptibilities of species to white-nose syndrome (WNS) in North America. We fitted 24 Rafinesque's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) with temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters, and monitored 128 PIT-tagged big-eared bats, during the winter months of 2010 to 2012. We tested the hypothesis that Rafinesque's big-eared bats use torpor less often than values reported for other North American cave-hibernators. Additionally, we tested the hypothesis that Rafinesque's big-eared bats arouse on winter nights more suitable for nocturnal foraging. Radio-tagged bats used short (2.4 d ± 0.3 (SE)), shallow (13.9°C ± 0.6) torpor bouts and switched roosts every 4.1 d ± 0.6. Probability of arousal from torpor increased linearly with ambient temperature at sunset (Pdata show Rafinesque's big-eared bat is a shallow hibernator and is relatively active during winter. We hypothesize that winter activity patterns provide Corynorhinus species with an ecological and physiological defense against the fungus causing WNS, and that these bats may be better suited to withstand fungal infection than other cave-hibernating bat species in eastern North America.
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Sexually Monomorphic Maps and Dimorphic Responses in Rat Genital Cortex.
Lenschow, Constanze; Copley, Sean; Gardiner, Jayne M; Talbot, Zoe N; Vitenzon, Ariel; Brecht, Michael
2016-01-11
Mammalian external genitals show sexual dimorphism [1, 2] and can change size and shape upon sexual arousal. Genitals feature prominently in the oldest pieces of figural art [3] and phallic depictions of penises informed psychoanalytic thought about sexuality [4, 5]. Despite this longstanding interest, the neural representations of genitals are still poorly understood [6]. In somatosensory cortex specifically, many studies did not detect any cortical representation of genitals [7-9]. Studies in humans debate whether genitals are represented displaced below the foot of the cortical body map [10-12] or whether they are represented somatotopically [13-15]. We wondered what a high-resolution mapping of genital representations might tell us about the sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain. We identified genital responses in rat somatosensory cortex in a region previously assigned as arm/leg cortex. Genital responses were more common in males than in females. Despite such response dimorphism, we observed a stunning anatomical monomorphism of cortical penis and clitoris input maps revealed by cytochrome-oxidase-staining of cortical layer 4. Genital representations were somatotopic and bilaterally symmetric, and their relative size increased markedly during puberty. Size, shape, and erect posture give the cortical penis representation a phallic appearance pointing to a role in sexually aroused states. Cortical genital neurons showed unusual multi-body-part responses and sexually dimorphic receptive fields. Specifically, genital neurons were co-activated by distant body regions, which are touched during mounting in the respective sex. Genital maps indicate a deep homology of penis and clitoris representations in line with a fundamentally bi-sexual layout [16] of the vertebrate brain. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Effects of Voice on Emotional Arousal
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Psyche eLoui
2013-10-01
Full Text Available Music is a powerful medium capable of eliciting a broad range of emotions. Although the relationship between language and music is well documented, relatively little is known about the effects of lyrics and the voice on the emotional processing of music and on listeners’ preferences. In the present study, we investigated the effects of vocals in music on participants’ perceived valence and arousal in songs. Participants (N = 50 made valence and arousal ratings for familiar songs that were presented with and without the voice. We observed robust effects of vocal content on perceived arousal. Furthermore, we found that the effect of the voice on enhancing arousal ratings is independent of familiarity of the song and differs across genders and age: females were more influenced by vocals than males; furthermore these gender effects were enhanced among older adults. Results highlight the effects of gender and aging in emotion perception and are discussed in terms of the social roles of music.
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Byers, E Sandra; Nichols, Shana; Voyer, Susan D
2013-11-01
This study examined the sexual functioning of single adults (61 men, 68 women) with high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome living in the community with and without prior relationship experience. Participants completed an on-line questionnaire assessing autism symptoms, psychological functioning, and various aspects of sexual functioning. In general participants reported positive sexual functioning. Participants without prior relationship experience were significantly younger and more likely to be male and identify as heterosexual. They reported significantly higher sexual anxiety, lower sexual arousability, lower dyadic desire, and fewer positive sexual cognitions. The men reported better sexual function than did the women in a number of areas. These results counter negative societal perceptions about the sexuality of high functioning individuals on the autism spectrum.
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Brain activation by visual erotic stimuli in healthy middle aged males.
Kim, S W; Sohn, D W; Cho, Y-H; Yang, W S; Lee, K-U; Juh, R; Ahn, K-J; Chung, Y-A; Han, S-I; Lee, K H; Lee, C U; Chae, J-H
2006-01-01
The objective of the present study was to identify brain centers, whose activity changes are related to erotic visual stimuli in healthy, heterosexual, middle aged males. Ten heterosexual, right-handed males with normal sexual function were entered into the present study (mean age 52 years, range 46-55). All potential subjects were screened over 1 h interview, and were encouraged to fill out questionnaires including the Brief Male Sexual Function Inventory. All subjects with a history of sexual arousal disorder or erectile dysfunction were excluded. We performed functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in male volunteers when an alternatively combined erotic and nonerotic film was played for 14 min and 9 s. The major areas of activation associated with sexual arousal to visual stimuli were occipitotemporal area, anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, orbitofrontal cortex, caudate nucleus. However, hypothalamus and thalamus were not activated. We suggest that the nonactivation of hypothalamus and thalamus in middle aged males may be responsible for the lesser physiological arousal in response to the erotic visual stimuli.
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Lilley, Thomas Mikael; Johnson, Joseph Samuel; Ruokolainen, Lasse; Rogers, Elisabeth Jeannine; Wilson, Cali Ann; Schell, Spencer Mead; Field, Kenneth Alan; Reeder, DeeAnn Marie
2016-01-01
White-nose syndrome (WNS) has devastated bat populations in North America, with millions of bats dead. WNS is associated with physiological changes in hibernating bats, leading to increased arousals from hibernation and premature consumption of fat reserves. However, there is evidence of surviving populations of little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) close to where the fungus was first detected nearly ten years ago. We examined the hibernation patterns of a surviving population of little brown myotis and compared them to patterns in populations before the arrival of WNS and populations at the peak of WNS mortality. Despite infection with Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative fungal agent, the remnant population displayed less frequent arousals from torpor and lower torpid body temperatures than bats that died from WNS during the peak of mortality. The hibernation patterns of the remnant population resembled pre-WNS patterns with some modifications. These data show that remnant populations of little brown myotis do not experience the increase in periodic arousals from hibernation typified by bats dying from WNS, despite the presence of the fungal pathogen on their skin. These patterns may reflect the use of colder hibernacula microclimates by WNS survivors, and/or may reflect differences in how these bats respond to the disease.
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Arousal and exposure duration affect forward step initiation
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daniëlle eBouman
2015-11-01
Full Text Available Emotion influences parameters of goal-directed whole-body movements in several ways. For instance, previous research has shown that approaching (moving toward pleasant stimuli is easier compared to approaching unpleasant stimuli. However, some studies found that when emotional pictures are viewed for a longer time, approaching unpleasant stimuli may in fact be facilitated. The effect of viewing duration may modulate whole-body approach movement in previous research but this has not been investigated before. In the current study, participants initiated a step forward after viewing neutral, high-arousal pleasant and high-arousal unpleasant stimuli. The viewing duration of the stimuli was set to 7 different durations, varying from 100 to 4000ms. Valence and arousal scores were collected for all stimuli.The results indicate that both viewing duration and the arousal of the stimuli influence kinematic parameters in forward gait initiation. Specifically, longer viewing duration, compared to shorter viewing duration, (a diminished the step length and peak velocity in both neutral and emotional stimuli, (b increased reaction time in neutral stimuli and, (c decreased reaction time in pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. Strikingly, no differences were found between high-arousal pleasant and high-arousal unpleasant stimuli. In other words, the valence of the stimuli did not influence kinematic parameters of forward step initiation. In contrast, the arousal level (neutral: low; pleasant and unpleasant: high explained the variance found in the results. The kinematics of forward gait initiation seemed to be reflected in the subjective arousal scores, but not the valence scores. So it seems arousal affects forward gait initiation parameters more strongly than valence. In addition, longer viewing duration seemed to cause diminished alertness, affecting GI parameters. These results shed new light on the prevailing theoretical interpretations regarding approach
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Pornography and the Male Sexual Script: An Analysis of Consumption and Sexual Relations.
Sun, Chyng; Bridges, Ana; Johnson, Jennifer A; Ezzell, Matthew B
2016-05-01
Pornography has become a primary source of sexual education. At the same time, mainstream commercial pornography has coalesced around a relatively homogenous script involving violence and female degradation. Yet, little work has been done exploring the associations between pornography and dyadic sexual encounters: What role does pornography play inside real-world sexual encounters between a man and a woman? Cognitive script theory argues media scripts create a readily accessible heuristic model for decision-making. The more a user watches a particular media script, the more embedded those codes of behavior become in their worldview and the more likely they are to use those scripts to act upon real life experiences. We argue pornography creates a sexual script that then guides sexual experiences. To test this, we surveyed 487 college men (ages 18-29 years) in the United States to compare their rate of pornography use with sexual preferences and concerns. Results showed the more pornography a man watches, the more likely he was to use it during sex, request particular pornographic sex acts of his partner, deliberately conjure images of pornography during sex to maintain arousal, and have concerns over his own sexual performance and body image. Further, higher pornography use was negatively associated with enjoying sexually intimate behaviors with a partner. We conclude that pornography provides a powerful heuristic model which is implicated in men's expectations and behaviors during sexual encounters.
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Interobserver variability in recognizing arousal in respiratory sleep disorders.
Drinnan, M J; Murray, A; Griffiths, C J; Gibson, G J
1998-08-01
Daytime sleepiness is a common consequence of repeated arousal in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Arousal indices are sometimes used to make decisions on treatment, but there is no evidence that arousals are detected similarly even by experienced observers. Using the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) definition of arousal in terms of the accompanying electroencephalogram (EEG) changes, we have quantified interobserver agreement for arousal scoring and identified factors affecting it. Ten patients with suspected OSA were studied; three representative EEG events during each of light, slow-wave, and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep were extracted from each record (90 events total) and evaluated by experts in 14 sleep laboratories. Observers differed (ANOVA, p ASDA definition of arousal is only moderately repeatable. Account should be taken of this variability when results from different centers are compared.
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Tadayon, Mitra; Hatami-Manesh, Zahra; Sharifi, Nasibeh; Najar, Shahnaz; Saki, Azadeh; Pajohideh, Zahra
2018-04-01
One of the forms of violence that receives less attention due to cultural and social issues is sexual violence against women, which is a hidden and a constant epidemic and impact on their health. This study aimed to determine the relationship between function and sexual satisfaction in women who have experienced sexual violence in Ahvaz-Iran. This study was a case-control study which was conducted on 105 women (cases=35 and control=70) referred to one forensic center and seventeen Shahrivar health centers during 2013-2014 in Ahwaz-Iran. The data collection tools included questionnaires for evaluating demographic characteristics and sexual satisfaction, sexual female function index and sexual violence. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and independent-samples t-test) in SPSS, version 19. P-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Two groups of women were matched according to age and education. Mean ± SD sexual satisfaction was (71.4±15.84) in the case group and (99.44±15.68) in the control group (p<0.001). The mean ± SD of sexual function was (17.1±4.94) in the case group and (26.37±5.27) in the control group. The groups had a statistically significant difference in terms of sexual arousal, sexual orgasm, sexual lubrication, pain and sexual satisfaction (p<0.001). Sexual dysfunction and dissatisfaction have a relation with sexual violence, and a major concern is that the sexual violence in most cases is hidden and can seriously affect the general health condition of women.
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Prince, Emily Barbara; Kim, Elizabeth S.; Wall, Carla Anne; Gisin, Eugenia; Goodwin, Matthew S.; Simmons, Elizabeth Schoen; Chawarska, Kaisa; Shic, Frederick
2017-01-01
Electrodermal activity was examined as a measure of physiological arousal within a naturalistic play context in 2-year-old toddlers (N = 27) with and without autism spectrum disorder. Toddlers with autism spectrum disorder were found to have greater increases in skin conductance level than their typical peers in response to administered play…
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Rapid steroid influences on visually guided sexual behavior in male goldfish
Lord, Louis-David; Bond, Julia; Thompson, Richmond R.
2013-01-01
The ability of steroid hormones to rapidly influence cell physiology through nongenomic mechanisms raises the possibility that these molecules may play a role in the dynamic regulation of social behavior, particularly in species in which social stimuli can rapidly influence circulating steroid levels. We therefore tested if testosterone (T), which increases in male goldfish in response to sexual stimuli, can rapidly influence approach responses towards females. Injections of T stimulated approach responses towards the visual cues of females 30–45 min after the injection but did not stimulate approach responses towards stimulus males or affect general activity, indicating that the effect is stimulus-specific and not a secondary consequence of increased arousal. Estradiol produced the same effect 30–45 min and even 10–25 min after administration, and treatment with the aromatase inhibitor fadrozole blocked exogenous T’s behavioral effect, indicating that T’s rapid stimulation of visual approach responses depends on aromatization. We suggest that T surges induced by sexual stimuli, including preovulatory pheromones, rapidly prime males to mate by increasing sensitivity within visual pathways that guide approach responses towards females and/or by increasing the motivation to approach potential mates through actions within traditional limbic circuits. PMID:19751737
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Hamilton, Lisa Dawn; Meston, Cindy M.
2010-01-01
Stress and anxiety are commonly thought to be detrimental to sexual function. Several studies in both the human and animal literature, however, have found that inducing anxiety can enhance sexual function in women. The mechanisms that explain a negative relationship between physical and psychological stress and sexual functioning are well documented, but little is known about how stress or anxiety might have a facilitatory effect on sexual arousal. As an initial step in exploring the relation...
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Woolf-King, Sarah E.; Maisto, Stephen; Carey, Michael; Vanable, Peter
2013-01-01
Experimental research on sexual decision making is limited, despite the public health importance of such work. We describe formative work conducted in advance of an experimental study designed to evaluate the effects of alcohol intoxication and sexual arousal on risky sexual decision making among men who have sex with men. In Study 1, we describe the procedures for selecting and validating erotic film clips (to be used for the experimental manipulation of arousal). In Study 2, we describe the tailoring of two interactive role-play videos to be used to measure risk perception and communication skills in an analog risky sex situation. Together, these studies illustrate a method for creating experimental stimuli to investigate sexual decision making in a laboratory setting. Research using this approach will support experimental research that affords a stronger basis for drawing causal inferences regarding sexual decision making. PMID:19760530
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Evidence-based treatments for low sexual desire in women.
Brotto, Lori A
2017-04-01
Low sexual desire is the most common sexual complaint in women, with multinational studies finding that at least a third of women experience low sexual desire. No single etiology for the development of Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder, the diagnosis laid out by the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, has been established. There has been considerable interest in pharmacological approaches to improving low desire, and agents targeting a range of neurotransmitters have been examined. To date, only flibanserin, a centrally acting medication targeting the serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine systems, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Despite statistically significant effects on sexual desire, sexual distress, and sexually satisfying events, side-effects are significant, and flibanserin is completely contraindicated with alcohol. As such, there has been renewed interest in advancing the science of psychological approaches to low desire, including cognitive behavioral and mindfulness therapies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The neural basis of sex differences in sexual behavior: A quantitative meta-analysis
Poeppl, Timm B.; Langguth, Berthold; Rupprecht, Rainer; Safron, Adam; Bzdok, Danilo; Laird, Angela R.; Eickhoff, Simon B.
2016-01-01
Sexuality as to its etymology presupposes the duality of sexes. Using quantitative neuroimaging meta-analyses, we demonstrate robust sex differences in the neural processing of sexual stimuli in thalamus, hypothalamus, and basal ganglia. In a narrative review, we show how these relate to the well-established sex differences on the behavioral level. More specifically, we describe the neural bases of known poor agreement between self-reported and genital measures of female sexual arousal, of previously proposed male proneness to affective sexual conditioning, as well as hints of unconscious activation of bonding mechanisms during sexual stimulation in women. In summary, our meta-analytic review demonstrates that neurofunctional sex differences during sexual stimulation can account for well-established sex differences in sexual behavior. PMID:27742561
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Versace, Francesco; Engelmann, Jeffrey M; Jackson, Edward F; Slapin, Aurelija; Cortese, Kristin M; Bevers, Therese B; Schover, Leslie R
2013-12-01
Many breast cancer survivors report a loss of sexual desire and arousability, consonant with the new DSM-V category of female sexual interest/arousal disorder. The cause of decreased sexual desire and pleasure after treatment for cancer is unknown. One possibility is that cancer, or treatment for cancer, damages brain circuits that are involved in reward-seeking. To test the hypothesis that brain reward systems are involved in decreased sexual desire in breast cancer survivors, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare brain responses to erotica and other emotional stimuli in two groups of women previously treated for breast cancer with chemotherapy: those who were distressed about a perceived loss of sexual desire and those who may have had low desire, but were not distressed about it. Women distressed about their desire had reduced brain responses to erotica in the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which are part of the brain reward system. This study is the first to demonstrate, in cancer survivors, that problems with sexual desire/arousability are associated with blunted brain responses to erotica in reward systems. Future research is necessary to determine whether brain responses differ as a result of chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and menopausal status. This may contribute to the development of new, evidence-based interventions for one of the most prevalent and enduring side effects of cancer treatment.
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Women's Perceptions and Feelings about Loss of Their Sexual Desire: A Qualitative Study in Iran.
Akhavan Akbari, Pouran; Ozgoli, Giti; Simbar, Masoumeh; Besharat, Mohammad Ali
2018-04-01
Reduced sexual desire leaves serious impacts on women's life. The current study aims to investigate the perceptions and concerns of Iranian women of reproductive age with female sexual interest and arousal disorder (FSIAD). This qualitative research was conducted using content analysis approach. Data were collected through seventeen in-depth interviews from October 2015 to June 2016. Purposive sampling was carried out from among reproductive-aged women suffering from FSIAD who responded to female sexual function index (FSFI) with mean scores of ≤3.3 and ≤3.4 in desire and arousal domains, respectively and went through validation by a psychologist. Data analysis was performed using Granheim and Lundman's approach. MAXQDA 10.0 software was used for data organization. The three main themes that emerged in this study included: 1) "Spoiled feminine identity" with two categories of "deteriorated sexual self-esteem" and "deteriorated feminine position", 2) "Struggle in sexual issues" with two categories of concern about losing the relationship and spouse, and surrendering to sexual relationship, and 3) "Deterioration of the couple's relationship" with two categories of deteriorated marital interaction and sexual disharmony between the couple. Feeling inability to play gender role as a woman and fear of losing the spouse are the most important concerns of women with lack of interest in sex. Training communication skills for sexual talks with the spouse and expression of feelings are the first steps to help such women.
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History of the Treatment of Female Sexual Dysfunction(s).
Kleinplatz, Peggy J
2018-01-22
This article reviews the history of the treatment of women's sexual problems from the Victorian era to the twenty-first century. The contextual nature of determining what constitutes female sexual psychopathology is highlighted. Conceptions of normal sexuality are subject to cultural vagaries, making it difficult to identify female sexual dysfunctions. A survey of the inclusion, removal, and collapsing of women's sexual diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from 1952 to 2013 illuminates the biases in the various editions. Masters and Johnson's models of sexual response and dysfunction paved the way for the diagnosis and treatment of women's sexual dysfunctions. Their sex therapy paradigm is described. Conceptions of and treatments for anorgasmia, arousal difficulties, vaginismus, dyspareunia, and low desire are reviewed. The medicalization of human sexuality and the splintering of sex therapy are discussed, along with current trends and new directions in sexual health care for women. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology Volume 14 is May 7, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Sanyal, Tania; Kumar, Vivek; Nag, Tapas Chandra; Jain, Suman; Sreenivas, Vishnu; Wadhwa, Shashi
2013-01-01
Prenatal auditory stimulation in chicks with species-specific sound and music at 65 dB facilitates spatial orientation and learning and is associated with significant morphological and biochemical changes in the hippocampus and brainstem auditory nuclei. Increased noradrenaline level due to physiological arousal is suggested as a possible mediator for the observed beneficial effects following patterned and rhythmic sound exposure. However, studies regarding the effects of prenatal high decibel sound (110 dB; music and noise) exposure on the plasma noradrenaline level, synaptic protein expression in the hippocampus and spatial behavior of neonatal chicks remained unexplored. Here, we report that high decibel music stimulation moderately increases plasma noradrenaline level and positively modulates spatial orientation, learning and memory of one day-old chicks. In contrast, noise at the same sound pressure level results in excessive increase of plasma noradrenaline level and impairs the spatial behavior. Further, to assess the changes at the molecular level, we have quantified the expression of functional synapse markers: synaptophysin and PSD-95 in the hippocampus. Compared to the controls, both proteins show significantly increased expressions in the music stimulated group but decrease in expressions in the noise group. We propose that the differential increase of plasma noradrenaline level and altered expression of synaptic proteins in the hippocampus are responsible for the observed behavioral consequences following prenatal 110 dB music and noise stimulation.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tania Sanyal
Full Text Available Prenatal auditory stimulation in chicks with species-specific sound and music at 65 dB facilitates spatial orientation and learning and is associated with significant morphological and biochemical changes in the hippocampus and brainstem auditory nuclei. Increased noradrenaline level due to physiological arousal is suggested as a possible mediator for the observed beneficial effects following patterned and rhythmic sound exposure. However, studies regarding the effects of prenatal high decibel sound (110 dB; music and noise exposure on the plasma noradrenaline level, synaptic protein expression in the hippocampus and spatial behavior of neonatal chicks remained unexplored. Here, we report that high decibel music stimulation moderately increases plasma noradrenaline level and positively modulates spatial orientation, learning and memory of one day-old chicks. In contrast, noise at the same sound pressure level results in excessive increase of plasma noradrenaline level and impairs the spatial behavior. Further, to assess the changes at the molecular level, we have quantified the expression of functional synapse markers: synaptophysin and PSD-95 in the hippocampus. Compared to the controls, both proteins show significantly increased expressions in the music stimulated group but decrease in expressions in the noise group. We propose that the differential increase of plasma noradrenaline level and altered expression of synaptic proteins in the hippocampus are responsible for the observed behavioral consequences following prenatal 110 dB music and noise stimulation.
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Quantifying the Arousal Threshold Using Polysomnography in Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
Sands, Scott A; Terrill, Philip I; Edwards, Bradley A; Taranto Montemurro, Luigi; Azarbarzin, Ali; Marques, Melania; de Melo, Camila M; Loring, Stephen H; Butler, James P; White, David P; Wellman, Andrew
2018-01-01
Precision medicine for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) requires noninvasive estimates of each patient's pathophysiological "traits." Here, we provide the first automated technique to quantify the respiratory arousal threshold-defined as the level of ventilatory drive triggering arousal from sleep-using diagnostic polysomnographic signals in patients with OSA. Ventilatory drive preceding clinically scored arousals was estimated from polysomnographic studies by fitting a respiratory control model (Terrill et al.) to the pattern of ventilation during spontaneous respiratory events. Conceptually, the magnitude of the airflow signal immediately after arousal onset reveals information on the underlying ventilatory drive that triggered the arousal. Polysomnographic arousal threshold measures were compared with gold standard values taken from esophageal pressure and intraoesophageal diaphragm electromyography recorded simultaneously (N = 29). Comparisons were also made to arousal threshold measures using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) dial-downs (N = 28). The validity of using (linearized) nasal pressure rather than pneumotachograph ventilation was also assessed (N = 11). Polysomnographic arousal threshold values were correlated with those measured using esophageal pressure and diaphragm EMG (R = 0.79, p < .0001; R = 0.73, p = .0001), as well as CPAP manipulation (R = 0.73, p < .0001). Arousal threshold estimates were similar using nasal pressure and pneumotachograph ventilation (R = 0.96, p < .0001). The arousal threshold in patients with OSA can be estimated using polysomnographic signals and may enable more personalized therapeutic interventions for patients with a low arousal threshold. © Sleep Research Society 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Effect of sildenafil citrate on women affected by sexual dysfunction referred to health clinics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sanaz Zeinalzadeh
2017-06-01
Full Text Available Background. Female sexual dysfunction is a serious, multifactorial problem which affects women’s quality of life. Objectives. This study aimed at assessing the effect of sildenafil citrate on sexual dysfunction among women of reproductive age. Materials and methods. The present randomized clinical trial was conducted on 84 married women between 18 and 40 years old who suffered from sexual dysfunction. The inclusion criteria of the study were being married and between 18–40 years old, obtaining scores ≥ 22 in FSFI, not having a history of hypothyroidism or hyperprolactinemia, and not suffering from dyspareunia or vaginismus. The intervention group was required to consume 50 mg sildenafil citrate 1 hour before sexual intercourse for 5 weeks, and the control group received placebo. FSFI was completed by both study groups before and 5 weeks after the treatment. The data were analyzed through SPSS (v. 18 and paired t-test and independent t-test. Results . Most of the women (67.2% were between 30 and 40 years old. The study results revealed a significant difference between the two groups regarding the mean scores of sexual desire (p = 0.011, sexual arousal (p = 0.001, lubrication (p = 0.026, orgasm and sexual satisfaction (p < 0.001, and the whole dimension (p < 0.001. Besides, total mean sexual function before and after for the intervention and control groups was 21.1 ± 3.28 vs. 17.22 ± 5.9 (p < 0.001. Conclusion . In this study, sildenafil citrate was effective in enhancing sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction. Of course, more studies need to be conducted on this issue.
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Respiratory and spontaneous arousals in patients with Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome.
Mesquita, J; Porée, F; Carrault, G; Fiz, J A; Abad, J; Jané, R
2012-01-01
Sleep in patients with Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (SAHS) is frequently interrupted with arousals. Increased amounts of arousals result in shortening total sleep time and repeated sleep-arousal change can result in sleep fragmentation. According to the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) an arousal is a marker of sleep disruption representing a detrimental and harmful feature for sleep. The nature of arousals and its role on the regulation of the sleep process raises controversy and has sparked the debate in the last years. In this work, we analyzed and compared the EEG spectral content of respiratory and spontaneous arousals on a database of 45 SAHS subjects. A total of 3980 arousals (1996 respiratory and 1984 spontaneous) were analyzed. The results showed no differences between the spectral content of the two kinds of arousals. Our findings raise doubt as to whether these two kinds of arousals are truly triggered by different organic mechanisms. Furthermore, they may also challenge the current beliefs regarding the underestimation of the importance of spontaneous arousals and their contribution to sleep fragmentation in patients suffering from SAHS.
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Physiological measures and self-report to evaluate neutral virtual reality worlds
Busscher, B.; De Vliegher, D.; Ling, Y.; Brinkman, W.P.
2011-01-01
Using virtual reality technology for exposure therapy to treat patients with anxiety disorders is attracting considerable research attention. The ability to monitor patient anxiety level helps therapists to set appropriate anxiety arousing situations. Physiological measures have been put forward as
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Chen, Ivy Y; Jarrin, Denise C; Ivers, Hans; Morin, Charles M
2017-12-01
Stress and hyperarousal both contribute to insomnia. Elevated stress-related sleep reactivity is associated with hyperarousal, and might constitute a vulnerability to future insomnia. The present study examined acute stress-induced arousal and its association with nocturnal sleep. Participants were 30 healthy adults (66.7% female, M age = 26.7 years): 10 with insomnia (INS) and 20 good sleepers with high vulnerability (HV) or low vulnerability (LV) to insomnia. They underwent two consecutive nights of polysomnography. During the evening preceding the second night, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was administered, and psychological and physiological arousal indices were assessed. The TSST elicited an increase in psychological and physiological arousal in all three groups. The INS group showed greater acute cortisol response (p stress reactivity and bedtime hyperarousal might represent a trait-like vulnerability in certain good sleepers. More research is warranted to validate and expand these preliminary findings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Differential use of sensory information in sexual behavior as a function of gender.
Herz, R S; Cahill, E D
1997-09-01
Olfactory information is critical to mammalian sexual behavior. Based on parental investment theory the relative importance of olfaction compared with vision, touch, and hearing should be different for human males and females. In particular, because of its link to immunological profile and offspring viability, odor should be a more important determinant of sexual choice and arousal for females than for males. To test this hypothesis a questionnaire was developed and administered to 332 adults (166 males, 166 females). Subjects used a 1-7 scale to indicate how much they agreed with a series of statements concerning the importance of olfactory, visual, auditory, and tactile information for their sexual responsivity. The data reveal that males rated visual and olfactory information as being equally important for selecting a lover, while females considered olfactory information to be the single most important variable in mate choice. Additionally, when considering sexual activity, females singled out body odor from all other sensory experiences as most able to negatively affect desire, while males regarded odors as much more neutral stimuli for sexual arousal. The present results support recent findings in mice and humans concerning the relation of female preferences in body odor and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) compatibility and can be explained by an evolutionary analysis of sex differences in reproductive strategies. This work represents the first direct examination of the role of different forms of sensory information in human sexual behavior.
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Recurring ethanol exposure induces disinhibited courtship in Drosophila.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hyun-Gwan Lee
Full Text Available Alcohol has a strong causal relationship with sexual arousal and disinhibited sexual behavior in humans; however, the physiological support for this notion is largely lacking and thus a suitable animal model to address this issue is instrumental. We investigated the effect of ethanol on sexual behavior in Drosophila. Wild-type males typically court females but not males; however, upon daily administration of ethanol, they exhibited active intermale courtship, which represents a novel type of behavioral disinhibition. The ethanol-treated males also developed behavioral sensitization, a form of plasticity associated with addiction, since their intermale courtship activity was progressively increased with additional ethanol experience. We identified three components crucial for the ethanol-induced courtship disinhibition: the transcription factor regulating male sex behavior Fruitless, the ABC guanine/tryptophan transporter White and the neuromodulator dopamine. fruitless mutant males normally display conspicuous intermale courtship; however, their courtship activity was not enhanced under ethanol. Likewise, white males showed negligible ethanol-induced intermale courtship, which was not only reinstated but also augmented by transgenic White expression. Moreover, inhibition of dopamine neurotransmission during ethanol exposure dramatically decreased ethanol-induced intermale courtship. Chronic ethanol exposure also affected a male's sexual behavior toward females: it enhanced sexual arousal but reduced sexual performance. These findings provide novel insights into the physiological effects of ethanol on sexual behavior and behavioral plasticity.
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Psychological and Interpersonal Dimensions of Sexual Function and Dysfunction.
Brotto, Lori; Atallah, Sandrine; Johnson-Agbakwu, Crista; Rosenbaum, Talli; Abdo, Carmita; Byers, E Sandra; Graham, Cynthia; Nobre, Pedro; Wylie, Kevan
2016-04-01
in men and women and is observed more consistently for genital arousal than for subjective arousal. Assessment of physical and mental illnesses that commonly occur in later life should be included as part of the initial evaluation in middle-aged and older persons presenting with sexual complaints. Menopausal status has an independent effect on reported changes in sex life and difficulties with intercourse. There is strong support for the use of psychological treatment for sexual desire and orgasm difficulties in women (but not in men). Combination therapies should be provided to men, whenever possible. Overall, research strongly supports the routine clinical investigation of psychological factors, partner-related factors, context, and life stressors. A biopsychosocial model to understand how these factors predispose to sexual dysfunction is recommended. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Emotionally arousing pictures increase blood glucose levels and enhance recall.
Blake, T M; Varnhagen, C K; Parent, M B
2001-05-01
Arousal enhances memory in human participants and this enhancing effect is likely due to the release of peripheral epinephrine. As epinephrine does not readily enter the brain, one way that peripheral epinephrine may enhance memory is by increasing circulating blood glucose levels. The present study investigated the possibility that emotionally arousing color pictures would improve memory and elevate blood glucose levels in human participants. Blood glucose levels were measured before, 15 min, and 30 min after male university students viewed 60 emotionally arousing or relatively neutral pictures. Participants viewed each picture for 6 s and then had 10 s to rate the arousal (emotional intensity) and valence (pleasantness) of each picture. A free-recall memory test was given 30 min after the last picture was viewed. Although the emotionally arousing and neutral picture sets were given comparable valence ratings, participants who viewed the emotionally arousing pictures rated the pictures as being more arousing, recalled more pictures, and had higher blood glucose levels after viewing the pictures than did participants who viewed the neutral pictures. These findings indicate that emotionally arousing pictures increase blood glucose levels and enhance memory, and that this effect is not due to differences in the degree of pleasantness of the stimuli. These findings support the possibility that increases in circulating blood glucose levels in response to emotional arousal may be part of the biological mechanism that allows emotional arousal to enhance memory. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.
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Brody, Stuart; Klapilova, Katerina; Krejčová, Lucie
2013-07-01
Research indicated that: (i) vaginal orgasm (induced by penile-vaginal intercourse [PVI] without concurrent clitoral masturbation) consistency (vaginal orgasm consistency [VOC]; percentage of PVI occasions resulting in vaginal orgasm) is associated with mental attention to vaginal sensations during PVI, preference for a longer penis, and indices of psychological and physiological functioning, and (ii) clitoral, distal vaginal, and deep vaginal/cervical stimulation project via different peripheral nerves to different brain regions. The aim of this study is to examine the association of VOC with: (i) sexual arousability perceived from deep vaginal stimulation (compared with middle and shallow vaginal stimulation and clitoral stimulation), and (ii) whether vaginal stimulation was present during the woman's first masturbation. A sample of 75 Czech women (aged 18-36), provided details of recent VOC, site of genital stimulation during first masturbation, and their recent sexual arousability from the four genital sites. The association of VOC with: (i) sexual arousability perceived from the four genital sites and (ii) involvement of vaginal stimulation in first-ever masturbation. VOC was associated with greater sexual arousability from deep vaginal stimulation but not with sexual arousability from other genital sites. VOC was also associated with women's first masturbation incorporating (or being exclusively) vaginal stimulation. The findings suggest (i) stimulating the vagina during early life masturbation might indicate individual readiness for developing greater vaginal responsiveness, leading to adult greater VOC, and (ii) current sensitivity of deep vaginal and cervical regions is associated with VOC, which might be due to some combination of different neurophysiological projections of the deep regions and their greater responsiveness to penile stimulation. © 2013 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Sinković, Matija; Stulhofer, Aleksandar; Božić, Jasmina
2013-01-01
Among the suggested problems and harms associated with widespread pornography use among young people, risky sexual behaviors have been frequently mentioned. To further explore this public health concern, this article analyzed sexual sensation seeking (SSS) as a potential confounder of the association between pornography use and sexual risks using data collected in 2010 from a population-based sample of young Croatian adults aged 18 to 25 (n = 1,005). Significant, but small, correlations were found between the indicators of pornography use (age at first exposure, frequency of use in the past 12 months, and personal importance of pornography) and sexual risk taking. However, in a multivariate analysis, only age at first exposure to pornography remained a significant, albeit weak, predictor of sexual risk taking among both women and men. SSS, defined as the dispositional tendency toward the impulsive pursuit of sexual arousal and stimulation, neither confounded nor moderated this association. Overall, the findings do not support the notion that pornography use is substantially associated with sexual risk taking among young adults, but suggest that early exposure to sexually explicit material and high SSS are additive risk factors for sexual risk taking.
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Poels, Karolien; van den Hoogen, Wouter; Ijsselsteijn, Wijnand; de Kort, Yvonne
2012-01-01
This study investigated how player emotions during game-play, measured through self-report and physiological recordings, predict playing time and game preferences. We distinguished between short-term (immediately after game-play) and long-term (after 3 weeks) playing time and game preferences. While pleasure was most predictive for short-term playing time and game preferences, arousal, particularly for game preferences, was most predictive on the longer term. This result was found through both self-report and physiological emotion measures. This study initiates theorizing about digital gaming as a hedonic consumer product and sketches future research endeavors of this topic.
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Differential effects of arousal in positive and negative autobiographical memories.
Ford, Jaclyn Hennessey; Addis, Donna Rose; Giovanello, Kelly S
2012-01-01
Autobiographical memories are characterised by a range of emotions and emotional reactions. Recent research has demonstrated that differences in emotional valence (positive vs. negative emotion) and arousal (the degree of emotional intensity) differentially influence the retrieved memory narrative. Although the mnemonic effects of valence and arousal have both been heavily studied, it is currently unclear whether the effects of emotional arousal are equivalent for positive and negative autobiographical events. In the current study, multilevel models were used to examine differential effects of emotional valence and arousal on the richness of autobiographical memory retrieval both between and within subjects. Thirty-four young adults were asked to retrieve personal autobiographical memories associated with popular musical cues and to rate the valence, arousal and richness of these events. The multilevel analyses identified independent influences of valence and intensity upon retrieval characteristics at the within- and between-subject levels. In addition, the within-subject interactions between valence and arousal highlighted differential effects of arousal for positive and negative memories. These findings have important implications for future studies of emotion and memory, highlighting the importance of considering both valence and arousal when examining the role emotion plays in the richness of memory representation.
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Neural activation toward erotic stimuli in homosexual and heterosexual males.
Kagerer, Sabine; Klucken, Tim; Wehrum, Sina; Zimmermann, Mark; Schienle, Anne; Walter, Bertram; Vaitl, Dieter; Stark, Rudolf
2011-11-01
Studies investigating sexual arousal exist, yet there are diverging findings on the underlying neural mechanisms with regard to sexual orientation. Moreover, sexual arousal effects have often been confounded with general arousal effects. Hence, it is still unclear which structures underlie the sexual arousal response in homosexual and heterosexual men. Neural activity and subjective responses were investigated in order to disentangle sexual from general arousal. Considering sexual orientation, differential and conjoint neural activations were of interest. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study focused on the neural networks involved in the processing of sexual stimuli in 21 male participants (11 homosexual, 10 heterosexual). Both groups viewed pictures with erotic content as well as aversive and neutral stimuli. The erotic pictures were subdivided into three categories (most sexually arousing, least sexually arousing, and rest) based on the individual subjective ratings of each participant. Blood oxygen level-dependent responses measured by fMRI and subjective ratings. A conjunction analysis revealed conjoint neural activation related to sexual arousal in thalamus, hypothalamus, occipital cortex, and nucleus accumbens. Increased insula, amygdala, and anterior cingulate gyrus activation could be linked to general arousal. Group differences emerged neither when viewing the most sexually arousing pictures compared with highly arousing aversive pictures nor compared with neutral pictures. Results suggest that a widespread neural network is activated by highly sexually arousing visual stimuli. A partly distinct network of structures underlies sexual and general arousal effects. The processing of preferred, highly sexually arousing stimuli recruited similar structures in homosexual and heterosexual males. © 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Neural correlates of erotic stimulation under different levels of female sexual hormones.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Birgit Abler
Full Text Available Previous studies have demonstrated variable influences of sexual hormonal states on female brain activation and the necessity to control for these in neuroimaging studies. However, systematic investigations of these influences, particularly those of hormonal contraceptives as compared to the physiological menstrual cycle are scarce. In the present study, we investigated the hormonal modulation of neural correlates of erotic processing in a group of females under hormonal contraceptives (C group; N = 12, and a different group of females (nC group; N = 12 not taking contraceptives during their mid-follicular and mid-luteal phases of the cycle. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure hemodynamic responses as an estimate of brain activation during three different experimental conditions of visual erotic stimulation: dynamic videos, static erotic pictures, and expectation of erotic pictures. Plasma estrogen and progesterone levels were assessed in all subjects. No strong hormonally modulating effect was detected upon more direct and explicit stimulation (viewing of videos or pictures with significant activations in cortical and subcortical brain regions previously linked to erotic stimulation consistent across hormonal levels and stimulation type. Upon less direct and less explicit stimulation (expectation, activation patterns varied between the different hormonal conditions with various, predominantly frontal brain regions showing significant within- or between-group differences. Activation in the precentral gyrus during the follicular phase in the nC group was found elevated compared to the C group and positively correlated with estrogen levels. From the results we conclude that effects of hormonal influences on brain activation during erotic stimulation are weak if stimulation is direct and explicit but that female sexual hormones may modulate more subtle aspects of sexual arousal and behaviour as involved in sexual
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Neural correlates of erotic stimulation under different levels of female sexual hormones.
Abler, Birgit; Kumpfmüller, Daniela; Grön, Georg; Walter, Martin; Stingl, Julia; Seeringer, Angela
2013-01-01
Previous studies have demonstrated variable influences of sexual hormonal states on female brain activation and the necessity to control for these in neuroimaging studies. However, systematic investigations of these influences, particularly those of hormonal contraceptives as compared to the physiological menstrual cycle are scarce. In the present study, we investigated the hormonal modulation of neural correlates of erotic processing in a group of females under hormonal contraceptives (C group; N = 12), and a different group of females (nC group; N = 12) not taking contraceptives during their mid-follicular and mid-luteal phases of the cycle. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure hemodynamic responses as an estimate of brain activation during three different experimental conditions of visual erotic stimulation: dynamic videos, static erotic pictures, and expectation of erotic pictures. Plasma estrogen and progesterone levels were assessed in all subjects. No strong hormonally modulating effect was detected upon more direct and explicit stimulation (viewing of videos or pictures) with significant activations in cortical and subcortical brain regions previously linked to erotic stimulation consistent across hormonal levels and stimulation type. Upon less direct and less explicit stimulation (expectation), activation patterns varied between the different hormonal conditions with various, predominantly frontal brain regions showing significant within- or between-group differences. Activation in the precentral gyrus during the follicular phase in the nC group was found elevated compared to the C group and positively correlated with estrogen levels. From the results we conclude that effects of hormonal influences on brain activation during erotic stimulation are weak if stimulation is direct and explicit but that female sexual hormones may modulate more subtle aspects of sexual arousal and behaviour as involved in sexual expectation. Results
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Brauer, Marieke; de Jong, Peter J.; Huijding, Jorg; Laan, Ellen; ter Kuile, Moniek M.
Current views suggest that in women with superficial dyspareunia the prospect of penile-vaginal intercourse automatically activates fear-related associations. The automatic activation of negative associations is assumed to interfere with the development of sexual arousal. In turn, this may further
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Interplay between Affect and Arousal in Recognition Memory
Greene, Ciara M.; Bahri, Pooja; Soto, David
2010-01-01
Background: Emotional states linked to arousal and mood are known to affect the efficiency of cognitive performance. However, the extent to which memory processes may be affected by arousal, mood or their interaction is poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: Following a study phase of abstract shapes, we altered the emotional state of participants by means of exposure to music that varied in both mood and arousal dimensions, leading to four different emotional states: (i) positive...
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Melles, Reinhilde J; Dewitte, Marieke D; Ter Kuile, Moniek M; Peters, Madelon M L; de Jong, Peter J
2016-08-01
Current information processing models propose that heightened attention bias for sex-related threats (eg, pain) and lowered automatic incentive processes ("wanting") may play an important role in the impairment of sexual arousal and the development of sexual dysfunctions such as genitopelvic pain/penetration disorder (GPPPD). Differential threat and incentive processing may also help explain the stronger persistence of coital avoidance in women with vaginismus compared to women with dyspareunia. As the first aim, we tested if women with GPPPD show (1) heightened attention for pain and sex, and (2) heightened threat and lower incentive associations with sexual penetration. Second, we examined whether the stronger persistence of coital avoidance in vaginismus vs dyspareunia might be explained by a stronger attentional bias or more dysfunctional automatic threat/incentive associations. Women with lifelong vaginismus (n = 37), dyspareunia (n = 29), and a no-symptoms comparison group (n = 51) completed a visual search task to assess attentional bias, and single target implicit-association tests to measure automatic sex-threat and sex-wanting associations. There were no group differences in attentional bias or automatic associations. Correlational analysis showed that slowed detection of sex stimuli and stronger automatic threat associations were related to lowered sexual arousal. The findings do not corroborate the view that attentional bias for pain or sex contributes to coital pain, or that differences in coital avoidance may be explained by differences in attentional bias or automatic threat/incentive associations. However, the correlational findings are consistent with the view that automatic threat associations and impaired attention for sex stimuli may interfere with the generation of sexual arousal. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sexual satisfaction and sexual health among university students in the United States.
Higgins, Jenny A; Mullinax, Margo; Trussell, James; Davidson, J Kenneth; Moore, Nelwyn B
2011-09-01
Despite the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health as a state of well-being, virtually no public health research has examined sexual well-being outcomes, including sexual satisfaction. Emerging evidence suggests that sexual well-being indicators are associated with more classic measures of healthy sexual behaviors. We surveyed 2168 university students in the United States and asked them to rate their physiological and psychological satisfaction with their current sexual lives. Many respondents reported that they were either satisfied (approximately half) or very satisfied (approximately one third). In multivariate analyses, significant (P self-comfort, self-esteem (especially among men), relationship status, and sexual frequency. To enhance sexual well-being, public health practitioners should work to improve sexual self-comfort, alleviate sexual guilt, and promote longer term relationships.
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AB022. The psyche of male sexual difficulties related to related to the partner
Adaikan, P. Ganesan
2015-01-01
Impression management for men aiming at courtship and love is cognitively taxing and is costly. Recent research suggests that when a man tries to impress an attractive woman his cognitive performance could be impaired and depleted. However, cognitive performance of a woman is not affected during her interaction with someone of the opposite sex (Karremans et al. 2009). By dictation of nature and anatomically too, men take an active and positive role in sexual performance; their failures in sexual performances will be revealed to the partner then and there. Men react negatively to such a failure when their confidence or self-esteems are at stake. Their psyche will strike it as a failure of life time, failure of their genetic spread and survival of the species. In subsequent sexual encounter their body and subconscious mind will switch to the physiology of anti-erectile transmission and limit the expansion of desire and arousal on other attempts. In general, we call this performance anxiety. Masters and Johnson’s pioneering work in the 70’s highlighted the negative impact of performance anxiety on sexual function. As a form of therapy, exercise such as Sensate Focus were designed for the couple to overcome the performance anxiety and phobic quality in man so that sexual arousal and penetrative erection can be practiced/achieved in a relaxed state. At the Fertility, menopausal and andrology settings of OBGYN, it is not uncommon to see male sexual dysfunctions that include lack of desire, psychogenic ED and ejaculatory dysfunctions. One of the main causes of complaints of unconsummated marriages is vaginismus (and dyspareunia) in the partner which causes psychogenic erectile dysfunction in husbands who fail to penetrate at the first or second attempts. Such couple tend to drift from sexual intimacy for months and years until there is an extended family pressure for conception. Another situation that compromises erectile capacity of otherwise a normal man with
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Gračanin, Asmir; van Assen, Marcel A L M; Omrčen, Višnja; Koraj, Ivana; Vingerhoets, Ad J J M
2017-01-01
Gelstein et al. reported the results of three experiments suggesting a dampening influence of inhalation of female emotional tears on males' arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, specifically in non-sexual situations. This prompted the hypothesis that crying exerts its influence on others not only via the auditory and visual mode but also via chemosignals. In three studies, we attempted to replicate and extend Gelstein et al.'s findings by including an additional condition with irritant tears, by using pictures of sexually attractive women, and by testing related hypotheses on the pro-social effects of exposure to tears. All three studies, separately or combined in a meta-analysis, failed to replicate the original inhibitory effects of tears. In addition, sniffing tears did not affect measures of connectedness, aggression and pro-social behaviour. It is concluded that the effects of female tears on male arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, if any, are very weak at best. Rather, it seems that crying exerts its strong inter-personal effects through the visual and auditory sensory channels.
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Valence, arousal, and task effects in emotional prosody processing
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Silke ePaulmann
2013-06-01
Full Text Available Previous research suggests that emotional prosody processing is a highly rapid and complex process. In particular, it has been shown that different basic emotions can be differentiated in an early event-related brain potential (ERP component, the P200. Often, the P200 is followed by later long lasting ERPs such as the late positive complex (LPC. The current experiment set out to explore in how far emotionality and arousal can modulate these previously reported ERP components. In addition, we also investigated the influence of task demands (implicit vs. explicit evaluation of stimuli. Participants listened to pseudo-sentences (sentences with no lexical content spoken in six different emotions or in a neutral tone of voice while they either rated the arousal level of the speaker or their own arousal level. Results confirm that different emotional intonations can first be differentiated in the P200 component, reflecting a first emotional encoding of the stimulus possibly including a valence tagging process. A marginal significant arousal effect was also found in this time-window with high arousing stimuli eliciting a stronger P200 than low arousing stimuli. The P200 component was followed by a long lasting positive ERP between 400 and 750 ms. In this late time-window, both emotion and arousal effects were found. No effects of task were observed in either time-window. Taken together, results suggest that emotion relevant details are robustly decoded during early processing and late processing stages while arousal information is only reliably taken into consideration at a later stage of processing.
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Conradt, Elisabeth; Lagasse, Linda L; Shankaran, Seetha; Bada, Henrietta; Bauer, Charles R; Whitaker, Toni M; Hammond, Jane A; Lester, Barry M
2014-01-01
Physiological correlates of behavioral and emotional problems, substance use onset and initiation of risky sexual behavior have not been studied in adolescents with prenatal drug exposure. We studied the concordance between baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) at age 3 and baseline cortisol levels at age 11. We hypothesized that children who showed concordance between RSA and cortisol would have lower neurobehavioral disinhibition scores which would in turn predict age of substance use onset and first sexual intercourse. The sample included 860 children aged 16 years participating in the Maternal Lifestyle Study, a multisite longitudinal study of children with prenatal exposure to cocaine and other substances. Structural equation modeling was used to test pathways between prenatal substance exposure, early adversity, baseline RSA, baseline cortisol, neurobehavioral disinhibition, drug use, and sexual behavior outcomes. Concordance was studied by examining separate male and female models in which there were statistically significant interactions between baseline RSA and cortisol. Prenatal substance exposure was operationalized as the number of substances to which the child was exposed. An adversity score was computed based on caregiver postnatal substance use, depression and psychological distress, number of caregiver changes, socioeconomic and poverty status, quality of the home environment, and child history of protective service involvement, abuse and neglect. RSA and cortisol were measured during a baseline period prior to the beginning of a task. Neurobehavioral disinhibition, based on composite scores of behavioral dysregulation and executive dysfunction, substance use and sexual behavior were derived from questionnaires and cognitive tests administered to the child. Findings were sex specific. In females, those with discordance between RSA and cortisol (high RSA and low cortisol or low RSA and high cortisol) had the most executive dysfunction which, in
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Effects of Arousal on Mouse Sensory Cortex Depend on Modality
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Daisuke Shimaoka
2018-03-01
Full Text Available Summary: Changes in arousal modulate the activity of mouse sensory cortex, but studies in different mice and different sensory areas disagree on whether this modulation enhances or suppresses activity. We measured this modulation simultaneously in multiple cortical areas by imaging mice expressing voltage-sensitive fluorescent proteins (VSFP. VSFP imaging estimates local membrane potential across large portions of cortex. We used temporal filters to predict local potential from running speed or from pupil dilation, two measures of arousal. The filters provided good fits and revealed that the effects of arousal depend on modality. In the primary visual cortex (V1 and auditory cortex (Au, arousal caused depolarization followed by hyperpolarization. In the barrel cortex (S1b and a secondary visual area (LM, it caused only hyperpolarization. In all areas, nonetheless, arousal reduced the phasic responses to trains of sensory stimuli. These results demonstrate diverse effects of arousal across sensory cortex but similar effects on sensory responses. : Shimaoka et al. use voltage-sensitive imaging to show that the effects of arousal on the mouse cortex are markedly different across areas and over time. In all the sensory areas studied, nonetheless, arousal reduced the phasic voltage responses to trains of sensory stimuli. Keywords: cerebral cortex, cortical state, locomotion, sensory processing, widefield imaging
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Frequency of EEG arousals from nocturnal sleep in normal subjects.
Mathur, R; Douglas, N J
1995-06-01
Brief arousals are clinically important and increasingly scored during polysomnography. However, the frequency of arousals during routine polysomnography in the normal population is unknown. We performed overnight polysomnography in the 55 of 59 control subjects from a family practice list who were approached and agreed to undergo polysomnography. Awakenings were scored according to the criteria of Rechtschaffen and Kales and briefer arousals according to three different criteria, including the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) definition. There was a mean of 4 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1-15) Rechtschaffen and Kales awakenings per hour, whereas the ASDA definition gave 21 (95% CI, 7-56) per hour slept. Arousal frequencies increased significantly (p < 0.001) with age in our subjects, who ranged from the late teens to early 70s. The high upper limit of the frequency of brief arousals was not altered by exclusion of patients who snored or had witnessed apneas or daytime sleepiness. It is important that those scoring arousals on routine polysomnography recognize that high arousal frequencies occur in the normal population on 1-night polysomnography.
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Evoking and Measuring Arousal in Game Settings
Cusveller, J.; Gerritsen, C.; de Man, J.; Gobel, S.; Wiemeyer, J.
2014-01-01
Serious games seem to be more effective if the participant feels more involved in the game. The participant should experience a high sense of presence which can be obtained by matching the level of excitement to the level of arousal a participant experiences. The level of arousal should be measured
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Emotional Arousal Does Not Enhance Association-Memory
Madan, Christopher R.; Caplan, Jeremy B.; Lau, Christine S. M.; Fujiwara, Esther
2012-01-01
Emotionally arousing information is remembered better than neutral information. This enhancement effect has been shown for memory for items. In contrast, studies of association-memory have found both impairments and enhancements of association-memory by arousal. We aimed to resolve these conflicting results by using a cued-recall paradigm combined…
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Holzapfel, S.
1994-01-01
Recent research suggesting that a high proportion of men and women remain sexually active well into later life refutes the prevailing myth that aging and sexual dysfunction are inexorably linked. Age-related physiological changes do not render a meaningful sexual relationship impossible or even necessarily difficult. In men, greater physical stimulation is required to attain and maintain erections, and orgasms are less intense. In women, menopause terminates fertility and produces changes ste...
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Emotional arousal and memory after deep encoding.
Leventon, Jacqueline S; Camacho, Gabriela L; Ramos Rojas, Maria D; Ruedas, Angelica
2018-05-22
Emotion often enhances long-term memory. One mechanism for this enhancement is heightened arousal during encoding. However, reducing arousal, via emotion regulation (ER) instructions, has not been associated with reduced memory. In fact, the opposite pattern has been observed: stronger memory for emotional stimuli encoded with an ER instruction to reduce arousal. This pattern may be due to deeper encoding required by ER instructions. In the current research, we examine the effects of emotional arousal and deep-encoding on memory across three studies. In Study 1, adult participants completed a writing task (deep-encoding) for encoding negative, neutral, and positive picture stimuli, whereby half the emotion stimuli had the ER instruction to reduce the emotion. Memory was strong across conditions, and no memory enhancement was observed for any condition. In Study 2, adult participants completed the same writing task as Study 1, as well as a shallow-encoding task for one-third of negative, neutral, and positive trials. Memory was strongest for deep vs. shallow encoding trials, with no effects of emotion or ER instruction. In Study 3, adult participants completed a shallow-encoding task for negative, neutral, and positive stimuli, with findings indicating enhanced memory for negative emotional stimuli. Findings suggest that deep encoding must be acknowledged as a source of memory enhancement when examining manipulations of emotion-related arousal. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Afiyanti Afiyanti
2017-04-01
Full Text Available Introduction: Despite increasing awareness related to sexual health for cervical cancer survivors, health care providers are passive in addressing their sexual issues. The objectives were to develop and investigate the effect of a sexual nursing intervention packet to mitigate sexual dysfunction among cervical cancer survivors. Method: A sample of 104 survivors were participated consecutively based on required inclusive criteria in this quasi-experimental study. The sexual nursing intervention packet focused on the physical, psychological, and care of relational aspects of sexual health elements. The packet consisted of 6 weekly 2-hour sessions. Results: The participants reported poor sexual satisfaction and sexual function. There were no statistically signi fi cant differences in sexual interest, sexual arousal, orgasm, and vaginal lubrication improvement following the intervention, although all the variables in the intervention group were improved clinically. The sexual nursing intervention packet was effective in increasing sexual satisfaction and decreasing dispareunia among cervical cancer survivors. Discussion: This study suggests that the quality of life in cervical cancer survivors could be improved with the sexual nursing intervention packet provided as part of supportive group care. This program may be more effective if delivered earlier and for a longer period. Implications for Practice: The sexual nursing intervention packet offers an opportunity to facilitate small-group dynamics that lay the ground for further contacts leading to earlier recognition of sexual problems and active involvement for sexual health improvement for cervical cancer survivors and nurses. It could be utilized for survivor education or support groups to increase sexual satisfaction following cancer treatment.
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Shih, Cheryl; Cold, Christopher J; Yang, Claire C
2013-06-01
The pars intermedia is an area of the vulva that has been inconsistently described in the literature. We conducted anatomic studies to better describe the tissues and vascular structures of the pars intermedia and proposed a functional rationale of the pars intermedia in the female sexual response. Nine cadaveric vulvectomy specimens were used. Each was serially sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome. Histologic ultrastructural description of the pars intermedia. The pars intermedia contains veins traveling longitudinally in the angle of the clitoris, supported by collagen-rich stromal tissues. These veins drain the different vascular compartments of the vulva, including the clitoris, the bulbs, and labia minora; also, the interconnecting veins link the different vascular compartments. The pars intermedia is not composed of erectile tissue, distinguishing it from the erectile tissues of the corpora cavernosa of the clitoris as well as the corpus spongiosum of the clitoral (vestibular) bulbs. The venous communications of the pars intermedia, linking the erectile tissues with the other vascular compartments of the vulva, appear to provide the anatomic basis for a coordinated vascular response during female sexual arousal. © 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
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Increasing arousal enhances inhibitory control in calm but not excitable dogs
Bray, Emily E.; MacLean, Evan L.; Hare, Brian A.
2015-01-01
The emotional-reactivity hypothesis proposes that problem-solving abilities can be constrained by temperament, within and across species. One way to test this hypothesis is with the predictions of the Yerkes-Dodson law. The law posits that arousal level, a component of temperament, affects problem solving in an inverted U-shaped relationship: optimal performance is reached at intermediate levels of arousal and impeded by high and low levels. Thus, a powerful test of the emotional-reactivity hypothesis is to compare cognitive performance in dog populations that have been bred and trained based in part on their arousal levels. We therefore compared a group of pet dogs to a group of assistance dogs bred and trained for low arousal (N = 106) on a task of inhibitory control involving a detour response. Consistent with the Yerkes-Dodson law, assistance dogs, which began the test with lower levels of baseline arousal, showed improvements when arousal was artificially increased. In contrast, pet dogs, which began the test with higher levels of baseline arousal, were negatively affected when their arousal was increased. Furthermore, the dogs’ baseline levels of arousal, as measured in their rate of tail wagging, differed by population in the expected directions. Low-arousal assistance dogs showed the most inhibition in a detour task when humans eagerly encouraged them while more highly aroused pet dogs performed worst on the same task with strong encouragement. Our findings support the hypothesis that selection on temperament can have important implications for cognitive performance. PMID:26169659
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Increasing arousal enhances inhibitory control in calm but not excitable dogs.
Bray, Emily E; MacLean, Evan L; Hare, Brian A
2015-11-01
The emotional-reactivity hypothesis proposes that problem-solving abilities can be constrained by temperament, within and across species. One way to test this hypothesis is with the predictions of the Yerkes-Dodson law. The law posits that arousal level, a component of temperament, affects problem solving in an inverted U-shaped relationship: Optimal performance is reached at intermediate levels of arousal and impeded by high and low levels. Thus, a powerful test of the emotional-reactivity hypothesis is to compare cognitive performance in dog populations that have been bred and trained based in part on their arousal levels. We therefore compared a group of pet dogs to a group of assistance dogs bred and trained for low arousal (N = 106) on a task of inhibitory control involving a detour response. Consistent with the Yerkes-Dodson law, assistance dogs, which began the test with lower levels of baseline arousal, showed improvements when arousal was artificially increased. In contrast, pet dogs, which began the test with higher levels of baseline arousal, were negatively affected when their arousal was increased. Furthermore, the dogs' baseline levels of arousal, as measured in their rate of tail wagging, differed by population in the expected directions. Low-arousal assistance dogs showed the most inhibition in a detour task when humans eagerly encouraged them, while more highly aroused pet dogs performed worst on the same task with strong encouragement. Our findings support the hypothesis that selection on temperament can have important implications for cognitive performance.
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Conditioned suppression of sexual behavior in stallions and reversal with diazepam.
McDonnell, S M; Kenney, R M; Meckley, P E; Garcia, M C
1985-06-01
Sexual behavior dysfunction unaccompanied by detectable physical or endocrine abnormality is an important cause of reproductive failure among domestic stallions. Several authors have suggested that such dysfunction may be psychogenic, related to negative experience associated with intense handling and training. An experimental model of experience-related dysfunction was developed by exposing pony stallions to erection-contingent aversive conditioning. This resulted in rapid, specific suppression of sexual arousal and response similar to spontaneously occurring dysfunction. Subsequently, treatment with a CNS-active benzodiazepine derivative (diazepam) reversed these effects.
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Lull, Robert B; Bushman, Brad J
2015-09-01
It is commonly assumed that sex and violence sell. However, we predicted that sex and violence would have the opposite effect. We based our predictions on the evolution and emotional arousal theoretical framework, which states that people are evolutionarily predisposed to attend to emotionally arousing cues such as sex and violence. Thus, sexual and violent cues demand more cognitive resources than nonsexual and nonviolent cues. Using this framework, we meta-analyzed the effects of sexual media, violent media, sexual ads, and violent ads on the advertising outcomes of brand memory, brand attitudes, and buying intentions. The meta-analysis included 53 experiments involving 8,489 participants. Analyses found that brands advertised in violent media content were remembered less often, evaluated less favorably, and less likely to be purchased than brands advertised in nonviolent, nonsexual media. Brands advertised using sexual ads were evaluated less favorably than brands advertised using nonviolent, nonsexual ads. There were no significant effects of sexual media on memory or buying intentions. There were no significant effects of sexual or violent ads on memory or buying intentions. As intensity of sexual ad content increased, memory, attitudes, and buying intentions decreased. When media content and ad content were congruent (e.g., violent ad in a violent program), memory improved and buying intentions increased. Violence and sex never helped and often hurt ad effectiveness. These results support the evolution and emotional arousal framework. Thus, advertisers should consider the effects of media content, ad content, content intensity, and congruity to design and place more effective ads. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
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Is sexual motivational state linked to dopamine release in the medial preoptic area?
Kleitz-Nelson, H K; Dominguez, J M; Cornil, C A; Ball, G F
2010-04-01
The medial preoptic area (mPOA) is a key site for the dopaminergic enhancement of male sexual behavior. Dopamine release increases in the rat mPOA with mating, supporting the critical stimulatory role played by preoptic dopamine on male sexual behavior. However, it has been questioned whether dopamine is specifically related to the occurrence of male sexual behavior and not simply involved in general arousal. To address this question, we asked whether dopamine release in the mPOA is linked to the production of male sexual behavior in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), a species that exhibits a much shorter temporal pattern of copulation than rats and does not have an intermittent organ, resulting in a very different topography of their sexual response. Extracellular samples from the mPOA of adult sexually experienced male quail were collected every 6 min before, during, and after exposure to a female using in vivo microdialysis and analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Extracellular dopamine significantly increased in the presence of a female and returned to baseline after removal of the female. However, quail that failed to copulate did not display this increased release. These findings indicate that it is not solely the presence of a female that drives dopamine release in males, but how a male responds to her. Furthermore, in quail that copulated, dopamine release did not change in samples collected during periods of no copulation. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that dopamine action in the mPOA is specifically linked to sexual motivation and not only to copulatory behavior or physical arousal.
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Predicting musically induced emotions from physiological inputs: linear and neural network models.
Russo, Frank A; Vempala, Naresh N; Sandstrom, Gillian M
2013-01-01
Listening to music often leads to physiological responses. Do these physiological responses contain sufficient information to infer emotion induced in the listener? The current study explores this question by attempting to predict judgments of "felt" emotion from physiological responses alone using linear and neural network models. We measured five channels of peripheral physiology from 20 participants-heart rate (HR), respiration, galvanic skin response, and activity in corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major facial muscles. Using valence and arousal (VA) dimensions, participants rated their felt emotion after listening to each of 12 classical music excerpts. After extracting features from the five channels, we examined their correlation with VA ratings, and then performed multiple linear regression to see if a linear relationship between the physiological responses could account for the ratings. Although linear models predicted a significant amount of variance in arousal ratings, they were unable to do so with valence ratings. We then used a neural network to provide a non-linear account of the ratings. The network was trained on the mean ratings of eight of the 12 excerpts and tested on the remainder. Performance of the neural network confirms that physiological responses alone can be used to predict musically induced emotion. The non-linear model derived from the neural network was more accurate than linear models derived from multiple linear regression, particularly along the valence dimension. A secondary analysis allowed us to quantify the relative contributions of inputs to the non-linear model. The study represents a novel approach to understanding the complex relationship between physiological responses and musically induced emotion.
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Predicting musically induced emotions from physiological inputs: Linear and neural network models
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Frank A. Russo
2013-08-01
Full Text Available Listening to music often leads to physiological responses. Do these physiological responses contain sufficient information to infer emotion induced in the listener? The current study explores this question by attempting to predict judgments of 'felt' emotion from physiological responses alone using linear and neural network models. We measured five channels of peripheral physiology from 20 participants – heart rate, respiration, galvanic skin response, and activity in corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major facial muscles. Using valence and arousal (VA dimensions, participants rated their felt emotion after listening to each of 12 classical music excerpts. After extracting features from the five channels, we examined their correlation with VA ratings, and then performed multiple linear regression to see if a linear relationship between the physiological responses could account for the ratings. Although linear models predicted a significant amount of variance in arousal ratings, they were unable to do so with valence ratings. We then used a neural network to provide a nonlinear account of the ratings. The network was trained on the mean ratings of eight of the 12 excerpts and tested on the remainder. Performance of the neural network confirms that physiological responses alone can be used to predict musically induced emotion. The nonlinear model derived from the neural network was more accurate than linear models derived from multiple linear regression, particularly along the valence dimension. A secondary analysis allowed us to quantify the relative contributions of inputs to the nonlinear model. The study represents a novel approach to understanding the complex relationship between physiological responses and musically induced emotion.
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Lorenz, Tierney Ahrold; Meston, Cindy May
2014-01-01
Background In laboratory studies, exercise immediately before sexual stimuli improved sexual arousal of women taking antidepressants [1]. We evaluated if exercise improves sexual desire, orgasm, and global sexual functioning in women experiencing antidepressant-induced sexual side effects. Methods Fifty-two women who were reporting antidepressant sexual side effects were followed for 3 weeks of sexual activity only. They were randomized to complete either three weeks of exercise immediately before sexual activity (3×/week) or 3 weeks of exercise separate from sexual activity (3×/week). At the end of the first exercise arm, participants crossed to the other. We measured sexual functioning, sexual satisfaction, depression, and physical health. Results Exercise immediately prior to sexual activity significantly improved sexual desire and, for women with sexual dysfunction at baseline, global sexual function. Scheduling regular sexual activity significantly improved orgasm function; exercise did not increase this benefit. Neither regular sexual activity nor exercise significantly changed sexual satisfaction. Conclusions Scheduling regular sexual activity and exercise may be an effective tool for the behavioral management of sexual side effects of antidepressants. PMID:24754044
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Enhanced auditory arousal increases intake of less palatable and healthier foods.
Privitera, Gregory J; Diaz, Melissa; Haas, Meagan C
2014-01-23
Two experiments were conducted to test a prediction of the arousal hypothesis that increased arousal will increase intake of less palatable and healthy foods. In both experiments, arousal was manipulated by adjusting the volume of a movie (soft, loud volume) while participants consumed foods. In Experiment 1, participants ate fresh (palatable) or stale (less palatable) popcorn during a 9-minute movie played at a soft or loud volume. Experiment 2 used the same procedures with healthier foods (carrot sticks and apple slices). Partial support for the arousal hypothesis in Experiment 1 showed that participants consumed more stale but not fresh popcorn in the loud (high arousal) versus soft (low arousal) volume group. These findings suggest that low but not high palatable foods are susceptible to manipulations of arousal. Consistent with this interpretation, Experiment 2 showed that high but not low environmental arousal increased intake of the fruits and vegetables, which are typically rated as lower in palatability compared to high fat foods. These results show that high arousal in an eating-typical environment increases intake of less palatable foods, and healthy foods (i.e., fruits and vegetables). Increasing the availability of healthier foods in a loud food environment can have a positive impact on increasing intake of fruits and vegetables in that environment.
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Women’s Perceptions and Feelings about Loss of Their Sexual Desire: A Qualitative Study in Iran
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Pouran Akhavan Akbari
2018-04-01
Full Text Available Background: Reduced sexual desire leaves serious impacts on women’s life. The current study aims to investigate the perceptions and concerns of Iranian women of reproductive age with female sexual interest and arousal disorder (FSIAD. Methods: This qualitative research was conducted using content analysis approach. Data were collected through seventeen in-depth interviews from October 2015 to June 2016. Purposive sampling was carried out from among reproductive-aged women suffering from FSIAD who responded to female sexual function index (FSFI with mean scores of ≤3.3 and ≤3.4 in desire and arousal domains, respectively and went through validation by a psychologist. Data analysis was performed using Granheim and Lundman’s approach. MAXQDA 10.0 software was used for data organization. Results: The three main themes that emerged in this study included: 1 “Spoiled feminine identity” with two categories of “deteriorated sexual self-esteem” and “deteriorated feminine position”, 2 “Struggle in sexual issues” with two categories of concern about losing the relationship and spouse, and surrendering to sexual relationship, and 3 “Deterioration of the couple’s relationship” with two categories of deteriorated marital interaction and sexual disharmony between the couple. Conclusion: Feeling inability to play gender role as a woman and fear of losing the spouse are the most important concerns of women with lack of interest in sex. Training communication skills for sexual talks with the spouse and expression of feelings are the first steps to help such women.
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Parental modelling of mathematical affect: self-efficacy and emotional arousal
Bartley, Sarah R.; Ingram, Naomi
2017-12-01
This study explored the relationship between parents' mathematics self-efficacy and emotional arousal to mathematics and their 12- and 13-year-old children's mathematics self-efficacy and emotional arousal to mathematics. Parental modelling of affective relationships during homework was a focus. Eighty-four parent and child pairings from seven schools in New Zealand were examined using embedded design methodology. No significant correlations were found when the parents' mathematics self-efficacy and emotional arousal to mathematics were compared with the children's mathematics self-efficacy and emotional arousal to mathematics. However, the parents' level of emotional arousal to mathematics was found to have affected their willingness to assist with mathematics homework. For those parents who assisted, a significant positive correlation was found between their mathematics self-efficacy and their children's emotional arousal to mathematics. Parents who did assist were generally reported as being calm, and used techniques associated with positive engagement. Fathers were calmer and more likely to express readiness to assist with mathematics homework than mothers. A further significant positive correlation was found between fathers' emotional arousal to mathematics and children's mathematics self-efficacy. Implications from the study suggest directions for future research.
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Incidence and prevalence of sexual dysfunction in infertile females
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Rohina S. Aggarwal
2013-09-01
Results: In our study 170 (63.67% patients in the infertile group (n = 267 had female sexual dysfunction as compared to108 (46.35% in the fertile group (n = 233, which is statistically significant (P 0.0001. Most common dysfunction observed was arousal (70% in infertile patients. Common dysfunctions observed in fertile females were desire (40% and orgasm (40%. FSD was significantly higher in infertile females of the 31–37 years age group (P 0.002, while more common in fertile females of >42 years of age (P < 0.0001. Higher female sexual dysfunction was observed in illiterate infertile females (P 0.039. Among the pathological factors endometriosis was the statistically significant factor associated with female sexual dysfunction and infertility (P < 0.0001. No significant correlation in duration of infertility or type of infertility was observed with female sexual dysfunction. Female sexual dysfunction as the cause or the effect should be ascertained in infertility.
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Discharge patterns of human genioglossus motor units during arousal from sleep.
Wilkinson, Vanessa; Malhotra, Atul; Nicholas, Christian L; Worsnop, Christopher; Jordan, Amy S; Butler, Jane E; Saboisky, Julian P; Gandevia, Simon C; White, David P; Trinder, John
2010-03-01
Single motor unit recordings of the human genioglossus muscle reveal motor units with a variety of discharge patterns. Integrated multiunit electromyographic recordings of genioglossus have demonstrated an abrupt increase in the muscle's activity at arousal from sleep. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of arousal from sleep on the activity of individual motor units as a function of their particular discharge pattern. Genioglossus activity was measured using intramuscular fine-wire electrodes inserted via a percutaneous approach. Arousals from sleep were identified using the ASDA criterion and the genioglossus electromyogram recordings analyzed for single motor unit activity. Sleep research laboratory. Sleep and respiratory data were collected in 8 healthy subjects (6 men). 138 motor units were identified during prearousalarousal sleep: 25% inspiratory phasic, 33% inspiratory tonic, 4% expiratory phasic, 3% expiratory tonic, and 35% tonic. At arousal from sleep inspiratory phasic units significantly increased the proportion of a breath over which they were active, but did not appreciably increase their rate of firing. 80 new units were identified at arousals, 75% were inspiratory, many of which were active for only 1 or 2 breaths. 22% of units active before arousal, particularly expiratory and tonic units, stopped at the arousal. Increased genioglossus muscle activity at arousal from sleep is primarily due to recruitment of inspiratory phasic motor units. Further, activity within the genioglossus motoneuron pool is reorganized at arousal as, in addition to recruitment, approximately 20% of units active before arousals stopped firing.
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Bloemers, J.; van Rooij, K.; Poels, S.; Goldstein, I.; Everaerd, W.; Koppeschaar, H.; Chivers, M.; Gerritsen, J.; van Ham, D.; Olivier, B.; Tuiten, A.
In three related manuscripts we describe our drug development program for the treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD). In this first theoretical article we will defend the hypothesis that different causal mechanisms are responsible for the emergence of HSDD: low sexual desire in women
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1999-01-01
hydrochloride . In a single-blind study, subjects received either saline or epinephrine injections before viewing erotic films. No differences in...frequency of erectile disorder among heroin users is 28% - 43%, and 40% - 50% among methadone users (Segraves, Madsen, Carter, & Davis, 1985)-both...label trial comparing phentolamine hydrochloride 50 mg with phenoxybenzamine 10 mg orally. Eighty-five patients were asked to take each drug at least 3
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Emotion and language: Valence and arousal affect word recognition
Brysbaert, Marc; Warriner, Amy Beth
2014-01-01
Emotion influences most aspects of cognition and behavior, but emotional factors are conspicuously absent from current models of word recognition. The influence of emotion on word recognition has mostly been reported in prior studies on the automatic vigilance for negative stimuli, but the precise nature of this relationship is unclear. Various models of automatic vigilance have claimed that the effect of valence on response times is categorical, an inverted-U, or interactive with arousal. The present study used a sample of 12,658 words, and included many lexical and semantic control factors, to determine the precise nature of the effects of arousal and valence on word recognition. Converging empirical patterns observed in word-level and trial-level data from lexical decision and naming indicate that valence and arousal exert independent monotonic effects: Negative words are recognized more slowly than positive words, and arousing words are recognized more slowly than calming words. Valence explained about 2% of the variance in word recognition latencies, whereas the effect of arousal was smaller. Valence and arousal do not interact, but both interact with word frequency, such that valence and arousal exert larger effects among low-frequency words than among high-frequency words. These results necessitate a new model of affective word processing whereby the degree of negativity monotonically and independently predicts the speed of responding. This research also demonstrates that incorporating emotional factors, especially valence, improves the performance of models of word recognition. PMID:24490848
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Stirring images: fear, not happiness or arousal, makes art more sublime.
Eskine, Kendall J; Kacinik, Natalie A; Prinz, Jesse J
2012-10-01
Which emotions underlie our positive experiences of art? Although recent evidence from neuroscience suggests that emotions play a critical role in art perception, no research to date has explored the extent to which specific emotional states affect aesthetic experiences or whether general physiological arousal is sufficient. Participants were assigned to one of five conditions-sitting normally, engaging in 15 or 30 jumping jacks, or viewing a happy or scary video-prior to rating abstract works of art. Only the fear condition resulted in significantly more positive judgments about the art. These striking findings provide the first evidence that fear uniquely inspires positively valenced aesthetic judgments. The results are discussed in the context of embodied cognition.
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Hinkley, Nancy E.
Literature on sexuality and aging and Maslow's hierarchy of needs (which include physiological needs, safety and security needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs, and the need for self-actualization) are used in this paper to identify at each level the needs of the aging individual as they derive from his sexuality in order to provide a…
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Fujita, Akie; Bonnavion, Patricia; Wilson, Miryam H; Mickelsen, Laura E; Bloit, Julien; de Lecea, Luis; Jackson, Alexander C
2017-09-27
Histaminergic (HA) neurons, found in the posterior hypothalamic tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN), extend fibers throughout the brain and exert modulatory influence over numerous physiological systems. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the activity of HA neurons is important in the regulation of vigilance despite the lack of direct, causal evidence demonstrating its requirement for the maintenance of arousal during wakefulness. Given the strong correlation between HA neuron excitability and behavioral arousal, we investigated both the electrophysiological diversity of HA neurons in brain slices and the effect of their acute silencing in vivo in male mice. For this purpose, we first validated a transgenic mouse line expressing cre recombinase in histidine decarboxylase-expressing neurons ( Hdc -Cre) followed by a systematic census of the membrane properties of both HA and non-HA neurons in the ventral TMN (TMNv) region. Through unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis, we found electrophysiological diversity both between TMNv HA and non-HA neurons, and among HA neurons. To directly determine the impact of acute cessation of HA neuron activity on sleep-wake states in awake and behaving mice, we examined the effects of optogenetic silencing of TMNv HA neurons in vivo We found that acute silencing of HA neurons during wakefulness promotes slow-wave sleep, but not rapid eye movement sleep, during a period of low sleep pressure. Together, these data suggest that the tonic firing of HA neurons is necessary for the maintenance of wakefulness, and their silencing not only impairs arousal but is sufficient to rapidly and selectively induce slow-wave sleep. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The function of monoaminergic systems and circuits that regulate sleep and wakefulness is often disrupted as part of the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders. One such circuit is the posterior hypothalamic histamine (HA) system, implicated in supporting wakefulness and higher brain
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Does Emotional Arousal Influence Swearing Fluency?
Stephens, Richard; Zile, Amy
2017-08-01
This study assessed the effect of experimentally manipulated emotional arousal on swearing fluency. We hypothesised that swear word generation would be increased with raised emotional arousal. The emotional arousal of 60 participants was manipulated by having them play a first-person shooter video game or, as a control, a golf video game, in a randomised order. A behavioural measure of swearing fluency based on the Controlled Oral Word Association Test was employed. Successful experimental manipulation was indicated by raised State Hostility Questionnaire scores after playing the shooter game. Swearing fluency was significantly greater after playing the shooter game compared with the golf game. Validity of the swearing fluency task was demonstrated via positive correlations with self-reported swearing fluency and daily swearing frequency. In certain instances swearing may represent a form of emotional expression. This finding will inform debates around the acceptability of using taboo language.
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Cedric L. Williams
2012-06-01
Full Text Available It is well established that exposure to emotionally laden events initiates secretion of the arousal related hormone epinephrine in the periphery. These neuroendocrine changes and the subsequent increase in peripheral physiological output play an integral role in modulating brain systems involved in memory formation. The impermeability of the blood brain barrier to epinephrine represents an important obstacle in understanding how peripheral hormones initiate neurochemical changes in the brain that lead to effective memory formation. This obstacle necessitated the identity of a putative pathway capable of conveying physiological changes produced by epinephrine to limbic structures that incorporate arousal and affect related information into memory. A major theme of the proposed studies is that ascending fibers of the vagus nerve may represent such a mechanism. This hypothesis was tested by evaluating the contribution of ascending vagal fibers in modulating memory for responses learned under behavioral conditions that produce emotional arousal by manipulating appetitive stimuli. A combination of electrophysiological recording of vagal afferent fibers and in vivo microdialysis was employed in a second study to simultaneously assess how elevations in peripheral levels of epinephrine affect vagal nerve discharge and the subsequent potentiation of norepinephrine release in the basolateral amygdala. The final study used double immunohistochemistry labeling of c-fos and dopamine beta hydroxylase, the enzyme for norepinephrine synthesis to determine if epinephrine administration alone or stimulation of the vagus nerve at an intensity identical to that which improved memory in Experiment 1 produces similar patterns of neuronal activity in brain areas involved in processing memory for emotional events. Findings emerging from this collection of studies establish the importance of ascending fibers of the vagus nerve as an essential pathway for conveying the
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Yee, Lesley
2010-10-01
Sexuality has become a medical issue in association with aging. This is due to a number of factors, including increasing age of survival, a positive societal construct that promotes sexuality as important for quality of life as we age, and the medicalisation of sexuality with the advent of prescription medications to treat sexual dysfunction. This article reviews the factors surrounding aging and sexuality and also considers special situations with age, such as institutionalised care and the possibility of elder abuse. Normal physiological changes with aging affect both genders in terms of sexual desire and performance. Other medical conditions increase with age, and these and their treatments will impact on sexuality and the way it can be expressed. Medical practitioners require an understanding of these changes in order to find ways to optimise sexual function in older patients.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tayebe Ziaei
2017-07-01
Full Text Available Background & aim: The preservation and enhancement of the sexual function are the key elements of sexual health. One of the most important predictive factors of sexual behavior and function is sexual self-concept. This construct is defined as the individuals’ understanding and evaluation of their own sexual desires and orientations. The aim of the present study was to determine the correlation between the dimensions of sexual self-concept and sexual function in the women of reproductive age. Methods: This correlational descriptive study was conducted on 79 married women of reproductive age referred to the health centers in Gorgan, Iran. The sample size was determined using the sample size formula with a power of 90% and a confidence interval of 95%. The data collection tools included the Persian multidimensional sexual self-concept questionnaire included 23 items covering five dimensions (i.e., sexual anxiety, sexual fear, sexual self-efficacy, sexual self-esteem, and sexual satisfaction and the Persian Female Sexual Function Index consisted of 19 items in six dimensions. Data analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient through the SPSS software (version 16. Results: The Spearman correlation test revealed a significant direct correlation between the sexual self-esteem and the positive dimensions of sexual function, including desire (P=0.002, r=0.3, arousal (P
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Physical activity and sexual function in middle-aged women
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Patrícia Uchôa Leitão Cabral
2014-02-01
Full Text Available Objective To investigate the relationship between physical activity level and sexual function in middle-aged women. Methods A cross-sectional study with a sample of 370 middle-aged women (40-65 years old, treated at public health care facilities in a Brazilian city. A questionnaire was used containing enquiries on sociodemographic, clinical and behavioral characteristics: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, short form, and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI. Results The average age of the women studied was 49.8 years (± 8.1, 67% of whom exhibited sexual dysfunction (FSFI ≤ 26.55. Sedentary women had a higher prevalence (78.9% of sexual dysfunction when compared to active (57.6% and moderately active (66.7% females (p = 0.002. Physically active women obtained higher score in all FSFI domains (desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain and total FSFI score (20.9, indicating better sexual function than their moderately active (18.8 and sedentary (15.6 counterparts (p <0.05. Conclusion Physical activity appears to influence sexual function positively in middle-aged women.
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Pfaus, James G; Kippin, Tod E; Coria-Avila, Genaro A; Gelez, Hélène; Afonso, Veronica M; Ismail, Nafissa; Parada, Mayte
2012-02-01
Although sexual behavior is controlled by hormonal and neurochemical actions in the brain, sexual experience induces a degree of plasticity that allows animals to form instrumental and Pavlovian associations that predict sexual outcomes, thereby directing the strength of sexual responding. This review describes how experience with sexual reward strengthens the development of sexual behavior and induces sexually-conditioned place and partner preferences in rats. In both male and female rats, early sexual experience with partners scented with a neutral or even noxious odor induces a preference for scented partners in subsequent choice tests. Those preferences can also be induced by injections of morphine or oxytocin paired with a male rat's first exposure to scented females, indicating that pharmacological activation of opioid or oxytocin receptors can "stand in" for the sexual reward-related neurochemical processes normally activated by sexual stimulation. Conversely, conditioned place or partner preferences can be blocked by the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. A somatosensory cue (a rodent jacket) paired with sexual reward comes to elicit sexual arousal in male rats, such that paired rats with the jacket off show dramatic copulatory deficits. We propose that endogenous opioid activation forms the basis of sexual reward, which also sensitizes hypothalamic and mesolimbic dopamine systems in the presence of cues that predict sexual reward. Those systems act to focus attention on, and activate goal-directed behavior toward, reward-related stimuli. Thus, a critical period exists during an individual's early sexual experience that creates a "love map" or Gestalt of features, movements, feelings, and interpersonal interactions associated with sexual reward.
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The effects of sedative music, arousal music, and silence on electrocardiography signals.
Dousty, Mehdy; Daneshvar, Sabalan; Haghjoo, Majid
2011-01-01
Research indicates that music can affect heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductance. Music can stimulate central emotions in the brain and release biochemical materials that change the physiologic state. We sought to compare changes in the electrical function of the heart in response to music. Subjects were asked to listen to 2 types of music, namely, sedative and arousal music, in conjunction with two 30-second periods of complete silence. The experiment was conducted in 4 segments: the first and third parts were silence, and the second and fourth parts were music. First, the response to each type of music was compared with that to the preceding period of silence. Next, the responses to both types of music were compared. Finally, the response to music regardless of the type was compared with that to silence. The amplitude of polarization and depolarization changed in response to different kinds of music. The electrical function of the heart in response to music, irrespective of the music type, differed from that in response to silence. The 2 types of music impacted the electrical function of the heart in different ways: the arousal music influenced T-wave maximum amplitude, whereas no such change was recorded in response to the sedative music. The bandwidth of the polarization and depolarization of the heart rate and R-wave amplitude increased in response to music by comparison with silence. In addition, the heart did not seem to try to synchronize with music. The mean R-wave amplitude in sedative music is higher than the arousal music, so our heart works differently when different types of music are heard. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The Effect of Mode of Delivery on Postpartum Sexual Functioning in Primiparous Women
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Fatemeh Dabiri
2014-07-01
Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate the effect of mode of delivery on postpartum sexual functioning in primiparous women. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 150 primiparous women in postpartum period, who attended the family planning or vaccination clinics, were enrolled for the study. Eighty-one had vaginal delivery with episiotomy and 69 had experienced cesarean section. Sexual function was evaluated by the Female Sexual Function Index within 3 and 6 months postpartum. Results: About 29% in vaginal delivery group and 37% in cesarean delivery group had resumed their sexual intercourses four weeks after delivery (p=0.280.There were no significant differences between mode of delivery and sexual functioning, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain. Conclusion: The present study showed that postpartum sexual functioning was not associated with the type of delivery.
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Future Targets for Female Sexual Dysfunction.
Farmer, Melissa; Yoon, Hana; Goldstein, Irwin
2016-08-01
Female sexual function reflects a dynamic interplay of central and peripheral nervous, vascular, and endocrine systems. The primary challenge in the development of novel treatments for female sexual dysfunction is the identification and targeted modulation of excitatory sexual circuits using pharmacologic treatments that facilitate the synthesis, release, and/or receptor binding of neurochemicals, peptides, and hormones that promote female sexual function. To develop an evidence-based state-of-the-art consensus report that critically integrates current knowledge of the therapeutic potential for known molecular and cellular targets to facilitate the physiologic processes underlying female sexual function. State-of-the-art review representing the opinions of international experts developed in a consensus process during a 1-year period. Expert opinion was established by grading the evidence-based medical literature, intensive internal committee discussion, public presentation, and debate. Scientific investigation is urgently needed to expand knowledge and foster development of future treatments that maintain genital tissue integrity, enhance genital physiologic responsiveness, and optimize positive subjective appraisal of internal and external sexual cues. This article critically condenses the current knowledge of therapeutic manipulation of molecular and cellular targets within biological systems responsible for female sexual physiologic function. Future treatment targets include pharmacologic modulation of emotional learning circuits, restoration of normal tactile sensation, growth factor therapy, gene therapy, stem cell-based therapies, and regenerative medicine. Concurrent use of centrally and peripherally acting therapies could optimize treatment response. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Placebo and Nocebo Effects in Sexual Medicine: An Experimental Approach.
Kruger, Tillmann H C; Grob, Carolin; de Boer, Claas; Peschel, Thomas; Hartmann, Uwe; Tenbergen, Gilian; Schedlowski, Manfred
2016-11-16
Few studies have investigated placebo and nocebo effects in a human sexuality context. Studying placebo and nocebo responses in this context may provide insight into their potential to modulate sexual drive and function. To examine such effects in sexual medicine, 48 healthy, male heterosexual participants were divided into four groups. Each group received instruction to expect stimulating effects, no effect, or an inhibitory effect on sexual functions. Only one group received the dopamine agonist cabergoline; all other groups received placebo or nocebo. Modulations in sexual experience were examined through an established experimental paradigm of sexual arousal and masturbation-induced orgasm during erotic film sequences with instruction to induce placebo or nocebo effects. Endocrine data, appetitive, consummatory, and refractory sexual behavior parameters were assessed using the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) and the Acute Sexual Experience Scale (ASES). Results showed increased levels of sexual function after administration of cabergoline with significant effects for several parameters. Placebo effects were induced only to a small degree. No negative effects on sexual parameters in the nocebo condition were noted. This paradigm could induce only small placebo and nocebo effects. This supports the view that healthy male sexual function seems relatively resistant to negative external influences.
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Valence, arousal and cognitive control: A voluntary task switching study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jelle eDemanet
2011-11-01
Full Text Available The present study focused on the interplay between arousal, valence and cognitive control. To this end, we investigated how arousal and valence associated with affective stimuli influenced cognitive flexibility when switching between tasks voluntarily. Three hypotheses were tested. First, a valence hypothesis that states that the positive valence of affective stimuli will facilitate both global and task-switching performance because of increased cognitive flexibility. Second, an arousal hypothesis that states that arousal, and not valence, will specifically impair task-switching performance by strengthening the previously executed task-set. Third, an attention hypothesis that states that both cognitive and emotional control ask for limited attentional resources, and predicts that arousal will impair both global and task-switching performance. The results showed that arousal affected task-switching but not global performance, possibly by phasic modulations of the noradrenergic system that reinforces the previously executed task. In addition, positive valence only affected global performance but not task-switching performance, possibly by phasic modulations of dopamine that stimulates the general ability to perform in a multitasking environment.
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Wang, Yan Mei; Li, Ting; Li, Lin
2017-07-19
The valence-arousal conflict theory assumes that both valence and arousal will trigger approaching or withdrawing tendencies. It also predicts that the speed of processing emotional stimuli will depend on whether valence and arousal trigger conflicting or congruent motivational tendencies. However, most previous studies have provided evidence of the interaction between valence and arousal only, and have not provided direct proof of the interactive links between valence, arousal and motivational tendencies. The present study provides direct evidence for the relationship between approach-withdrawal tendencies and the valence-arousal conflict. In an empirical test, participants were instructed to judge the valence of emotional words after visual-spatial cues that appeared to be either approaching or withdrawing from participants. A three-way interaction (valence, arousal, and approach-withdrawal tendency) was observed such that the response time was shorter if participants responded to a negative high-arousal stimulus after a withdrawing cue, or to a positive low-arousal stimulus after an approaching cue. These findings suggest that the approach-withdrawal tendency indeed plays a crucial role in valence-arousal conflict, and that the effect depends on the congruency of valence, arousal and tendency at an early stage of processing.
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The influence of emotion down-regulation on the expectation of sexual reward.
Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Cousijn, Janna; Both, Stephanie
2015-05-01
Emotion regulation research has shown successful altering of unwanted aversive emotional reactions. Cognitive strategies can also regulate expectations of reward arising from conditioned stimuli. However, less is known about the efficacy of such strategies with expectations elicited by conditioned appetitive sexual stimuli, and possible sex differences therein. In the present study it was examined whether a cognitive strategy (attentional deployment) could successfully down-regulate sexual arousal elicited by sexual reward-conditioned cues in men and women. A differential conditioning paradigm was applied, with genital vibrostimulation as unconditioned stimulus (US) and sexually relevant pictures as conditional stimuli (CSs). Evidence was found for emotion down-regulation to effect extinction of conditioned sexual responding in men. In women, the emotion down-regulatory strategy resulted in attenuated conditioned approach tendencies towards the CSs. The findings support that top-down modulation may indeed influence conditioned sexual responses. This knowledge may have implications for treating disturbances in sexual appetitive responses. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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Prevalence and types of sexual dysfunction amongst female with diabetes mellitus
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Unadike, B.C.; Eregie, A.; Ohwovoriole, A.E.
2009-01-01
To determine the prevalence and types of sexual dysfunction (SD) amongst female with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in Benin City, Nigeria. This is a cross sectional study. A total of 225 female with DM and 225 female without DM who served as controls were studied. Data obtained included age, anthropometric indexes, presence and type of sexual dysfunction. Fifteen (6.6%) subjects with DM had sexual dysfunction and four (1.7%) in the control group had SD with sexual pain disorder being the commonest SD, seen in both groups. Other SD seen was lubrication disorder and sexual arousal disorder. The prevalence of SD in diabetic female was significantly higher than in the control group (6.6% vs. 1.7% p < 0.05). Sexual Dysfunction appears to be relatively uncommon amongst Nigerian women with Diabetes Mellitus. However diabetes care providets should address this issue during consultations with patients and provide treatment as this is a treatable condition. (author)
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Sexual function after anterior vaginal wall prolapse surgery
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Paulo Cezar Feldner Jr.
2012-08-01
Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare female sexual function after surgical treatment of anterior vaginal prolapse with either small intestine submucosa grafting or traditional colporrhaphy. METHODS: Subjects were randomly assigned, preoperatively, to the small intestine submucosa graft (n = 29 or traditional colporrhaphy (n = 27 treatment group. Postoperative outcomes were analyzed at 12 months. The Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire was used to assess sexual function. Data were compared with independent samples or a paired Student's t-test. RESULTS: In the small intestine submucosa group, the total mean Female Sexual Function Index score increased from 15.5±7.2 to 24.4±7.5 (p<0.001. In the traditional colporrhaphy group, the total mean Female Sexual Function Index score increased from 15.3±6.8 to 24.2±7.0 (p<0.001. Improvements were noted in the domains of desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. There were no differences between the two groups at the 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Small intestine submucosa repair and traditional colporrhaphy both improved sexual function postoperatively. However, no differences were observed between the two techniques.
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Higher motivation - greater control? The effect of arousal on judgement.
Riemer, Hila; Viswanathan, Madhu
2013-01-01
This research examines control over the effect of arousal, a dimension of affect, on judgement. Past research shows that high processing motivation enhances control over the effects of affect on judgement. Isolating and studying arousal as opposed to valence, the other dimension of affect, and its effect on judgement, we identify boundary conditions for past findings. Drawing from the literature on processes by which arousal influences judgement, we demonstrate that the role of motivation is contingent upon the type of judgement task (i.e., memory- versus stimulus-based judgement). In stimulus-based judgement, individuals exert greater control over the effect of arousal on judgement under low compared to high motivation. In contrast, in memory-based judgement individuals exert greater control over the effect of arousal under high compared to low motivation. Theoretical implications and avenues for future research are discussed.
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Female sexual dysfunction: a focus on flibanserin
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lodise NM
2017-10-01
Full Text Available Nicole M Lodise Department of Pharmacy Practice, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Albany, NY, USA Abstract: Flibanserin is the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA-approved option for sexual dysfunction, specifically low sexual desire. Until recently, there were no FDA-approved medication options to assist the ~40% of women affected by female sexual dysfunction (FSD. Often, patients report feeling uncomfortable discussing sexual health, identifying a strong need for health care professionals (HCPs to proactively reach out to patients to identify concerns and initiate a discussion about sexual health and the available treatment options. Within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DMS-5, the criteria of female sexual interest/arousal disorder (FSIAD are outlined, encompassing one of the most common sexual concerns, formerly in its own category defined as hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD or low sexual desire. HSDD is the absence or deficiency of sexual interest and/or desire leading to significant distress and interpersonal difficulties. HCPs offer an important service in assessing their patients and providing information about treatment considerations while ensuring patient comfort with this topic. This article provides an overview of the types and potential causes associated with FSD and the role of flibanserin in practice as a treatment option. Despite a need for additional study in diverse populations, flibanserin has demonstrated efficacy with increased female sexual function index (FSFI total and desire domain scores in clinical studies indicating benefit in sexual desire. Common patient or provider-administered assessment tools to assist in identifying affected patients and patient counseling strategies are reviewed. Keywords: female sexual dysfunction, low sexual desire, hypoactive sexual desire disorder, pharmacotherapy, flibanserin
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Female sexual dysfunction in patients with endometriosis: Indian scenario
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Vineet V Mishra
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Background: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD in Indian women is often overlooked due to cultural beliefs and considered as social taboos. Sexuality is an important and integral part of life. There are many causes of sexual dysfunction, but the prevalence of FSD in endometriotic patients is still underdiagnosed. Materials and Methods: Study design - Cross-sectional observational study conducted at tertiary care center, from June 2015 to March 2016. Sample size - Fifty-one patients in reproductive age group (18-47 years who were diagnosed with endometriosis on diagnostic laparoscopy were included. Methods - FSD was assessed with a detailed 19-item female sexual function index questionnaire. All six domains of sexual dysfunction, i.e., desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain were studied. Exclusion - Patients with other gynecological, medical or surgical history were excluded. Results: Out of 51 patients with endometriosis, 47.06% of patients had sexual dysfunction. With the increase in staging of endometriosis, sexual dysfunction prevalence is also rising. FSD was 100% in patients with severe endometriosis as compared to 33.33% in minimal endometriosis. Conclusion: Every individual deserves good sexual life. The sexual dysfunction associated with endometriosis should also be taken into consideration while managing these patients.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Fariba Mirblouk
2016-02-01
Full Text Available Background: One of the affected aspects in infertile women that have not been given sufficient attention is sexual function. Sexual function is a key factor in physical and marital health, and sexual dysfunction could significantly lower the quality of life. Aim of this study was to assess the comparison sexual dysfunction in women with infertility and without infertility, admitted to Al- Zahra Hospital. Objective: We decided to assess the prevalence of women sexual disorders in fertile and infertile subjects, admitted to Al-Zahra Hospital. Materials and Methods: 149 fertile and 147 infertile women who referred to infertility clinic of Al-Zahra Hospital during 2013-2014 were entered this crosssectional study and Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire (FSFI had been filled by all the cases. Most of women were married for 6-10 years (35.5% and mean marriage time in participants was 9.55±6.07 years. Data were analyzed using SPSS software Ver. 18 and χP 2 P test and logistic regression model has been used for analysis. Results: Results showed significant differences between desire (p=0.004, arousal (p=0.001, satisfaction (p=0.022 and total sexual dysfunction (p=0.011 in both groups but in lubrication (p=0.266, orgasm (p=0.61 and pain (p=0.793 difference were not significant. Conclusion: Some of sexual dysfunction indices are high in all infertile women. Our findings suggest that infertility impacts on women’s sexual function in desire, arousal, satisfaction and total sexual dysfunction. Health care professional should be sensitive to impact that diagnosis of infertility can have on women’s sexuality.
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Beyond intensity: Spectral features effectively predict music-induced subjective arousal.
Gingras, Bruno; Marin, Manuela M; Fitch, W Tecumseh
2014-01-01
Emotions in music are conveyed by a variety of acoustic cues. Notably, the positive association between sound intensity and arousal has particular biological relevance. However, although amplitude normalization is a common procedure used to control for intensity in music psychology research, direct comparisons between emotional ratings of original and amplitude-normalized musical excerpts are lacking. In this study, 30 nonmusicians retrospectively rated the subjective arousal and pleasantness induced by 84 six-second classical music excerpts, and an additional 30 nonmusicians rated the same excerpts normalized for amplitude. Following the cue-redundancy and Brunswik lens models of acoustic communication, we hypothesized that arousal and pleasantness ratings would be similar for both versions of the excerpts, and that arousal could be predicted effectively by other acoustic cues besides intensity. Although the difference in mean arousal and pleasantness ratings between original and amplitude-normalized excerpts correlated significantly with the amplitude adjustment, ratings for both sets of excerpts were highly correlated and shared a similar range of values, thus validating the use of amplitude normalization in music emotion research. Two acoustic parameters, spectral flux and spectral entropy, accounted for 65% of the variance in arousal ratings for both sets, indicating that spectral features can effectively predict arousal. Additionally, we confirmed that amplitude-normalized excerpts were adequately matched for loudness. Overall, the results corroborate our hypotheses and support the cue-redundancy and Brunswik lens models.
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Voncken, M.J.; Bogels, S.M.
2009-01-01
This study investigates whether social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients with blushing complaints show heightened physiological blushing and arousability in social situations than SAD patients without blushing complaints and healthy controls. SAD blushers (n = 32), SAD non-blushers (n = 34), and
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Sexual Experiences of Chinese Patients Living With an Ostomy.
Zhu, Xiaomei; Chen, Yongyi; Tang, Xinhui; Chen, Yupan; Liu, Yangyu; Guo, Wei; Liu, Aizhong
The purpose of this study was to examine the sexual experience of Chinese patients with ostomy and associated factors. A prospective descriptive study using self-report questionnaires. Seventy-five Chinese participants who underwent ostomy surgery in a large cancer specialist hospital in the Hunan province between 2008 and 2013. Data were collected face-to-face by the investigators in an outpatient setting from 75 participants who completed the Arizona Sexual Experience Inventory Scale (ASEX). The t test was used to compare variances between sexual function and dysfunction subgroups. A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze factors influencing sexual life after ostomy surgery. The mean ASEX score was 20.56 (5.378) years, which is higher than the standard for sexual dysfunction. The main subsection of sexual dysfunction included sexual arousal, orgasm ability, vaginal lubrication/penile erection, and sexual satisfaction. Significant differences in the ASEX score were observed in subgroups of age, gender, educational level, family relations, operation modes, stoma type, operation time, complications, supporters, self-care ability, and sexual life guidance. Multiple stepwise regression analysis indicated that family relations, operation modes, ostomy type, complications, and sexual life guidance affected sexual experience. The findings of this study demonstrate that patients with ostomy experience sexual dysfunction and many factors influence their quality of sexual life. WOC nurses and other healthcare providers should consider providing sexual health education for both the patient and spouse to improve the self-care capacity and quality of sexual life following ostomy surgery.
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AffectCam : arousal- augmented sensecam for richer recall of episodic memories
Sas, Corina; Fratczak, Thomasz; Rees, Matthew; Gellersen, Hans; Kalnikaitė, Vaiva; Coman, Alina; Höök, Kristina
2013-01-01
This paper describes the design and evaluation of AffectCam, a wearable system integrating SenseCam and BodyMedia SenseWear for capturing galvanic skin response as a measure of bodily arousal. AffectCam’s algorithms use arousal as a filtering mechanism for selecting the most personally relevant photos captured during people’s ordinary daily life, i.e. high arousal photos. We discuss initial findings showing that emotional arousal does improve the quality of memory recall associated with emoti...
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The effect of personality type and musical task on self-perceived arousal.
Lim, Hayoung A
2008-01-01
This study was designed to measure the level of arousal influenced by 4 different musical experiences classified by task difficulty and to examine the relationship between music-induced arousal level and personality type. Participants included 32 university students who were neither musicians nor music majors. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975) was used to identify participants as either extravert or introvert. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 types of musical tasks: listening, singing, rhythm tapping, or keyboard playing. Arousal level was measured using the Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List (ADACL) (Thayer, 1978) before and after the musical task. The ADACL is a self-report scale consisting of a list of 20 adjectives which describe various transitory arousal states, including energy, tiredness, tension, and calmness. Results showed no significant difference between personality types and the changes in arousal level. Result indicated a significant effect of listening on decreased tension arousal. Singing and rhythm tapping, which are regarded as having a relatively moderate task difficulty, increased energy arousal significantly and decreased tiredness arousal significantly. Participants' tiredness arousal levels also decreased significantly after keyboard playing. These findings suggest that engaging in musical experience that has a moderate level of task difficulty makes individuals more energetic and less tired.
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Persistent genital arousal disorder
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Eibye, Simone; Jensen, Hans Mørch
2014-01-01
We report a case of a woman suffering from persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) after paroxetine cessation. She was admitted to a psychiatric department and diagnosed with agitated depression. Physical investigation showed no gynaecological or neurological explanation; however, a pelvic MRI...
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Physiological blunting during pregnancy extends to induced relaxation
DiPietro, Janet A.; Mendelson, Tamar; Williams, Erica L.; Costigan, Kathleen A.
2011-01-01
There is accumulating evidence that pregnancy is accompanied by hyporesponsivity to physical, cognitive, and psychological challenges. This study evaluates whether observed autonomic blunting extends to conditions designed to decrease arousal. Physiological and psychological responsivity to an 18-minute guided imagery relaxation protocol in healthy pregnant women during the 32nd week of gestation (n = 54) and non-pregnant women (n = 28) was measured. Data collection included heart period (HP)...
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Eyes Wide Shopped: Shopping Situations Trigger Arousal in Impulsive Buyers
Serfas, Benjamin G.; Büttner, Oliver B.; Florack, Arnd
2014-01-01
The present study proposes arousal as an important mechanism driving buying impulsiveness. We examined the effect of buying impulsiveness on arousal in non-shopping and shopping contexts. In an eye-tracking experiment, we measured pupil dilation while participants viewed and rated pictures of shopping scenes and non-shopping scenes. The results demonstrated that buying impulsiveness is closely associated with arousal as response to viewing pictures of shopping scenes. This pertained for hedonic shopping situations as well as for utilitarian shopping situations. Importantly, the effect did not emerge for non-shopping scenes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that arousal of impulsive buyers is independent from cognitive evaluation of scenes in the pictures. PMID:25489955
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Eyes wide shopped: shopping situations trigger arousal in impulsive buyers.
Serfas, Benjamin G; Büttner, Oliver B; Florack, Arnd
2014-01-01
The present study proposes arousal as an important mechanism driving buying impulsiveness. We examined the effect of buying impulsiveness on arousal in non-shopping and shopping contexts. In an eye-tracking experiment, we measured pupil dilation while participants viewed and rated pictures of shopping scenes and non-shopping scenes. The results demonstrated that buying impulsiveness is closely associated with arousal as response to viewing pictures of shopping scenes. This pertained for hedonic shopping situations as well as for utilitarian shopping situations. Importantly, the effect did not emerge for non-shopping scenes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that arousal of impulsive buyers is independent from cognitive evaluation of scenes in the pictures.
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Doğan, Bülent; Gün, İsmet; Özdamar, Özkan; Yılmaz, Ali; Muhçu, Murat
2017-02-01
To investigate whether spontaneous vaginal birth with mediolateral episiotomy has any long-term impact on urinary and/or fecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction and perineal pain in primiparous women. This matched case-control study included 150 women between 25 and 35 years old who had a singleton childbirth at least five years previously. Patients were grouped as; women who had a spontaneous vaginal delivery with mediolateral episiotomy (Group 1), an elective cesarean delivery (Group 2), and who had no delivery (Group 3). Controls were matched for age and delivery time. Urinary/fecal incontinence were questioned and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire was completed. Total FSFI and domain scores were compared. Statistical evaluation was performed using One-way ANOVA test or χ 2 test. Statistical significance was defined as p sexual dysfunction. Mean total FSFI points in Group 1 were significantly lower than in Groups 2 and 3 (p = 0.001). There were significant differences in sexual desire between groups 1 and 3 (p = 0.005), in arousal and in orgasm between both groups 1 and 2 (p = 0.001 and p = 0.038, respectively) and groups 1 and 3 (p = 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). There was no significant difference between groups 2 and 3 in any parameters or total points. Vaginal delivery with mediolateral episiotomy is not associated with urinary and/or fecal incontinence and sexual dysfunction but associated with a decreased sexual functioning as well as sexual desire, arousal and orgasm within postpartum five years.
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An assessment of body appreciation and its relationship to sexual function in women.
Satinsky, Sonya; Reece, Michael; Dennis, Barbara; Sanders, Stephanie; Bardzell, Shaowen
2012-01-01
Objectification theory posits internalization of an observer's gaze may negatively impact women's feelings about their bodies, which may subsequently affect their sexual function. Subjective body image and body size (i.e., body mass index [BMI]) have mixed relationships to women's sexuality, but assessment of positive body image as a sign of resistance to objectification has not been researched. This study explored relations between body appreciation and sexual function in women and assessed whether body size impacted this relationship. Cross-sectional data were collected online from 247 women, ages 18 to 58. Body appreciation scores were modestly negatively correlated with BMI, while BMI was not related to sexual function scores. After controlling for sexual orientation, partner status, and age, body appreciation predicted the arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction aspects of sexual function. Practitioners' encouragement of body appreciation may improve sexual function in a way that encouraging a reduction in body size may not. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Predator cat odors activate sexual arousal pathways in brains of Toxoplasma gondii infected rats.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Patrick K House
Full Text Available Cat odors induce rapid, innate and stereotyped defensive behaviors in rats at first exposure, a presumed response to the evolutionary pressures of predation. Bizarrely, rats infected with the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii approach the cat odors they typically avoid. Since the protozoan Toxoplasma requires the cat to sexually reproduce, this change in host behavior is thought to be a remarkable example of a parasite manipulating a mammalian host for its own benefit. Toxoplasma does not influence host response to non-feline predator odor nor does it alter behavior on olfactory, social, fear or anxiety tests, arguing for specific manipulation in the processing of cat odor. We report that Toxoplasma infection alters neural activity in limbic brain areas necessary for innate defensive behavior in response to cat odor. Moreover, Toxoplasma increases activity in nearby limbic regions of sexual attraction when the rat is exposed to cat urine, compelling evidence that Toxoplasma overwhelms the innate fear response by causing, in its stead, a type of sexual attraction to the normally aversive cat odor.
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Predator cat odors activate sexual arousal pathways in brains of Toxoplasma gondii infected rats.
House, Patrick K; Vyas, Ajai; Sapolsky, Robert
2011-01-01
Cat odors induce rapid, innate and stereotyped defensive behaviors in rats at first exposure, a presumed response to the evolutionary pressures of predation. Bizarrely, rats infected with the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii approach the cat odors they typically avoid. Since the protozoan Toxoplasma requires the cat to sexually reproduce, this change in host behavior is thought to be a remarkable example of a parasite manipulating a mammalian host for its own benefit. Toxoplasma does not influence host response to non-feline predator odor nor does it alter behavior on olfactory, social, fear or anxiety tests, arguing for specific manipulation in the processing of cat odor. We report that Toxoplasma infection alters neural activity in limbic brain areas necessary for innate defensive behavior in response to cat odor. Moreover, Toxoplasma increases activity in nearby limbic regions of sexual attraction when the rat is exposed to cat urine, compelling evidence that Toxoplasma overwhelms the innate fear response by causing, in its stead, a type of sexual attraction to the normally aversive cat odor.
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Zhang, Zhongxing; Schneider, Maja; Laures, Marco; Qi, Ming; Khatami, Ramin
2016-01-01
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) with periodic limb movement during sleep (PLMS) are two sleep disorders characterized by repetitive respiratory or movement events associated with cortical arousals. We compared the cerebral hemodynamic changes linked to periodic apneas/hypopneas with arousals (AHA) in four OSA-patients with periodic limb movements (PLMA) with arousals in four patients with RLS-PLMS using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). AHA induced homogenous pattern of periodic fluctuations in oxygenated (HbO2) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin, i.e., the decrease of HbO2 was accompanied by an increase of HHb during the respiratory event and resolved to reverse pattern when cortical arousal started. Blood volume (BV) showed the same pattern as HHb but with relative smaller amplitude in most of the AHA events.These changing patterns were significant as Wilcoxon signed-rank tests gave p Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, p Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.001) and then decreased. The results of this preliminary study show that both AHA and PLMA induce changes in cerebral hemodynamics. The occurrence of cortical arousal is accompanied by increased HR in both events, but by different BV changes (i.e., decreased/increased BV in AHA/PLMA, respectively). HR changes may partially account for the increased cerebral hemodynamics during PLMA; whereas in AHA probable vasodilatation mediated by hypoxia/hypercapnia is more crucial for the post-arousal hemodynamics. The differences between changes of cerebral hemodynamics and HR may indicate different pathological mechanisms behind these two sleep disorder events.
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Arousal-But Not Valence-Reduces False Memories at Retrieval.
Mirandola, Chiara; Toffalini, Enrico
2016-01-01
Mood affects both memory accuracy and memory distortions. However, some aspects of this relation are still poorly understood: (1) whether valence and arousal equally affect false memory production, and (2) whether retrieval-related processes matter; the extant literature typically shows that mood influences memory performance when it is induced before encoding, leaving unsolved whether mood induced before retrieval also impacts memory. We examined how negative, positive, and neutral mood induced before retrieval affected inferential false memories and related subjective memory experiences. A recognition-memory paradigm for photographs depicting script-like events was employed. Results showed that individuals in both negative and positive moods-similar in arousal levels-correctly recognized more target events and endorsed fewer false memories (and these errors were linked to remember responses less frequently), compared to individuals in neutral mood. This suggests that arousal (but not valence) predicted memory performance; furthermore, we found that arousal ratings provided by participants were more adequate predictors of memory performance than their actual belonging to either positive, negative or neutral mood groups. These findings suggest that arousal has a primary role in affecting memory, and that mood exerts its power on true and false memory even when induced at retrieval.
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[Medical students' sexuality--development and fulfilment of sexual needs].
Müldner-Nieckowski, Łukasz; Klasa, Katarzyna; Sobański, Jerzy A; Rutkowski, Krzysztof; Dembińska, Edyta
2012-01-01
Education in human sexual physiology and pathology, as well as own sexual health of medical doctors determines in a large proportion the ability to talk with patients about their sexual disorders. Therefore the authors considered important to collect and assess data regarding sexual health and development of Medical Faculty students. Analysis of selected aspects of psychosexual development and sex life of IVth grade medical students. We applied the self-report Questionnaire of Satisfaction with Sexual Life (KSS2), an instrument created to assess sexual problems in patients treated with group psychotherapy. Medical students filled the questionnaire when attending the courses of Psychopathology of neurotic disorders or Psychotherapy. Analysis of the collected data revealed a relatively high differentiation of the studied group in regard of satisfaction and experiences with sexual life, attitudes towards masturbation, relationships and sexual activity. Regarding some aspects, significant differences between women and men occurred. A set of factors were identified, some of them may negatively influence medical doctor's competencies in the domain of sexual health. These are not having sexual debut or even lack of any erotic experiences and lack of sexual satisfaction. The results indicate a significant prevalence of factors, which may impede students education as well as taking into consideration the sexual issues during the medical interview. Assessment of influence of students' and doctors' own sexuality on their competencies in diagnostics and treatment requires further studies.
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Eyes wide shopped: shopping situations trigger arousal in impulsive buyers.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Benjamin G Serfas
Full Text Available The present study proposes arousal as an important mechanism driving buying impulsiveness. We examined the effect of buying impulsiveness on arousal in non-shopping and shopping contexts. In an eye-tracking experiment, we measured pupil dilation while participants viewed and rated pictures of shopping scenes and non-shopping scenes. The results demonstrated that buying impulsiveness is closely associated with arousal as response to viewing pictures of shopping scenes. This pertained for hedonic shopping situations as well as for utilitarian shopping situations. Importantly, the effect did not emerge for non-shopping scenes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that arousal of impulsive buyers is independent from cognitive evaluation of scenes in the pictures.
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Amines, Astrocytes and Arousal
Bazargani, N.; Attwell, D.
2017-01-01
Amine neurotransmitters, such as noradrenaline, mediate arousal, attention, and reward in the CNS. New data suggest that, from flies to mammals, a major mechanism for amine transmitter action is to raise astrocyte [Ca2+]i and release gliotransmitters that modulate neuronal activity and behavior.
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Developmental Reversals in False Memory: Effects of Emotional Valence and Arousal
Brainerd, C. J.; Holliday, R. E.; Reyna, V. F.; Yang, Y.; Toglia, M. P.
2010-01-01
Do the emotional valence and arousal of events distort children's memories? Do valence and arousal modulate counterintuitive age increases in false memory? We investigated those questions in children, adolescents, and adults using the Cornell/Cortland Emotion Lists, a word list pool that induces false memories and in which valence and arousal can…
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Burri, Andrea
2017-01-01
Despite awareness of the importance of psycho-affective factors in the development of sexual problems, there is a lack of studies exploring the relation of sexual sensation seeking (SSS) and sexual compulsivity (SC) to sexual functioning. Because sex differences in SSS and SC have been reported, gender identity (GI; an individual's own experience of his or her gender that is unrelated to the actual biological sex) might act as a moderator in this relation. To understand the role of SSS and SC for men and women's sexual functioning and to explore whether these potential associations are moderated by GI. A population-based cross-sectional online survey targeted 279 individuals (69.2% women, 30.8% men; mean age = 32 years). Validated questionnaires, including the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale, the Sexual Compulsivity Scale, the Female Sexual Function Index, the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool, and the International Index of Erectile Function, were applied. Variations in SSS and SC and their association with sexual functioning were investigated using Spearman rank correlation. Moderation analyses were conducted using regression models in which the interaction terms between SSS and GI and between SCS and GI as predictors of sexual functioning were included. A statistically significant correlation between SSS and SC could be detected in men and women (r = 0.41 and 0.33, respectively; P < .001 for the two comparisons). In women, higher levels of SSS were associated with higher levels of desire, arousal, lubrication, and orgasm and less sexual pain (P < .05 for all comparisons). No moderating effect of GI could be detected. In men, GI was a significant moderator in the relation between SC and erectile function (β = 0.47; P < .001) and between SSS and erectile and ejaculatory function (β = -0.41 and 0.30; P < .001 for the two comparisons). The present study is the first to show a link between SSS and SC and sexual functioning. The results might have important
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Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldstein, Irwin; Kim, Noel N.; Clayton, Anita H
2017-01-01
The objective of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health expert consensus panel was to develop a concise, clinically relevant, evidence-based review of the epidemiology, physiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), a sexual...... dysfunction affecting approximately 10% of adult women. Etiologic factors include conditions or drugs that decrease brain dopamine, melanocortin, oxytocin, and norepinephrine levels and augment brain serotonin, endocannabinoid, prolactin, and opioid levels. Symptoms include lack or loss of motivation...... to participate in sexual activity due to absent or decreased spontaneous desire, sexual desire in response to erotic cues or stimulation, or ability to maintain desire or interest through sexual activity for at least 6 months, with accompanying distress. Treatment follows a biopsychosocial model and is guided...
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Emotionally enhanced memory for negatively arousing words: storage or retrieval advantage?
Nadarevic, Lena
2017-12-01
People typically remember emotionally negative words better than neutral words. Two experiments are reported that investigate whether emotionally enhanced memory (EEM) for negatively arousing words is based on a storage or retrieval advantage. Participants studied non-word-word pairs that either involved negatively arousing or neutral target words. Memory for these target words was tested by means of a recognition test and a cued-recall test. Data were analysed with a multinomial model that allows the disentanglement of storage and retrieval processes in the present recognition-then-cued-recall paradigm. In both experiments the multinomial analyses revealed no storage differences between negatively arousing and neutral words but a clear retrieval advantage for negatively arousing words in the cued-recall test. These findings suggest that EEM for negatively arousing words is driven by associative processes.
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A unifying computational framework for stability and flexibility of arousal
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Christin eKosse
2014-10-01
Full Text Available Arousal and consciousness flexibly adjust to salient cues, but remain stable despite noise and disturbance. Diverse, highly interconnected neural networks govern the underlying transitions of behavioural state; these networks are robust but very complex. Frameworks from systems engineering provide powerful tools for understanding functional logic behind component complexity. From a general systems viewpoint, a minimum of three communicating control modules may enable flexibility and stability to coexist. Comparators would subtract current arousal from desired arousal, producing an error signal. Regulators would compute control signals from this error. Generators would convert control signals into arousal, which is fed back to comparators, to make the system noise-proof through self-correction. Can specific neurons correspond to these control elements? To explore this, here we consider the brain-wide orexin/hypocretin network, which is experimentally established to be vital for flexible and stable arousal. We discuss whether orexin neurons may act as comparators, and their target neurons as regulators and generators. Experiments are proposed for testing such predictions, based on computational simulations showing that comparators, regulators, and generators have distinct temporal signatures of activity. If some regulators integrate orexin-communicated errors, robust arousal control may be achieved via integral feedback (a basic engineering strategy for tracking a set-point despite noise. An integral feedback view also suggests functional roles for specific molecular aspects, such as differing life-spans of orexin peptides. The proposed framework offers a unifying logic for molecular, cellular, and network details of arousal systems, and provides insight into behavioral state transitions, complex behaviour, and bases for disease.
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Enhanced conflict-driven cognitive control by emotional arousal, not by valence.
Zeng, Qinghong; Qi, Senqing; Li, Miaoyun; Yao, Shuxia; Ding, Cody; Yang, Dong
2017-09-01
Emotion is widely agreed to have two dimensions, valence and arousal. Few studies have explored the effect of emotion on conflict adaptation by considering both of these, which could have dissociate influence. The present study aimed to fill the gap as to whether emotional valence and arousal would exert dissociable influence on conflict adaptation. In the experiments, we included positive, neutral, and negative conditions, with comparable arousal between positive and negative conditions. Both positive and negative conditions have higher arousal than neutral ones. In Experiment 1, by using a two-colour-word Flanker task, we found that conflict adaptation was enhanced in both positive and negative contexts compared to a neutral context. Furthermore, this effect still existed when controlling stimulus-response repetitions in Experiment 2, which used a four-colour-word Flanker task. The findings suggest emotional arousal enhances conflict adaptation, regardless of emotional valence. Thus, future studies should consider emotional arousal when studying the effect of emotion on conflict adaptation. Moreover, the unique role of the emotional context in conflict-driven cognitive control is emphasised.
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Adaptive memory: Is the animacy effect on memory due to emotional arousal?
Meinhardt, Martin J; Bell, Raoul; Buchner, Axel; Röer, Jan P
2018-05-07
Animate entities are often better remembered than inanimate ones. The proximal mechanisms underlying this animacy effect on recall are unclear. In two experiments, we tested whether the animacy effect is due to emotional arousal. Experiment 1 revealed that translations of the animate words used in the pioneering study of Nairne et al. (Psychological science, 24, 2099-2105, 2013) were perceived as being more arousing than translations of the inanimate words, suggesting that animacy might have been confounded with arousal in previous studies. In Experiment 2, new word lists were created in which the animate and inanimate words were matched on arousal (amongst several other dimensions), and participants were required to reproduce the animate and inanimate words in a free recall task. There was a tendency towards better memory for arousing items, but robust animacy effects were obtained even though animate and inanimate words were matched on arousal. Thus, while arousal may contribute to the animacy effect when it is not carefully controlled for, it cannot explain the memory advantage of animate items.