An fMRI Study of Responses to Sexual Stimuli as a Function of Gender and Sensation Seeking: A Preliminary Analysis

Journal of Sex Research
Melissa A CydersDavid A Kareken

Abstract

Although sexual cues produce stronger neural activation in men than in women, mechanisms underlying this differential response are unclear. We examined the relationship of sensation seeking and the brain's response to sexual stimuli across gender in 27 subjects (14 men, M = 25.2 years, SD = 3.6, 85.2% Caucasian) who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while viewing sexual and nonsexual images. Whole-brain corrected significant clusters of regional activation were extracted and associated with gender, sensation seeking, and sexual behaviors. Men responded more to sexual than nonsexual images in the anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/mPFC), anterior insula/lateral orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral amygdala, and occipital regions. Sensation seeking related positively to ACC/mPFC (r = 0.65, p = 0.01) and left amygdala (r = 0.66, p = 0.01) response in men alone, with both of these correlations being significantly larger in men than in women (ps < 0.03). The relationship between brain responses and self-reported high-risk and low-risk sexual behaviors showed interesting, albeit nonsignificant, gender-specific trends. These findings suggest the relationship between sexual responsivity, sensation seeking,...Continue Reading

References

Mar 9, 2004·Nature Neuroscience·Stephan HamannKim Wallen
Sep 19, 2007·Psychology of Addictive Behaviors : Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors·Christian S HendershotJeanette Norris
Mar 25, 2009·Journal of Sex Research·John BancroftStephanie A Sanders
Apr 3, 2012·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Serge StoléruVirginie Moulier
Oct 30, 2013·Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research·Melissa A CydersDavid A Kareken
Mar 3, 2015·Clinical Anatomy : Official Journal of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists & the British Association of Clinical Anatomists·Janniko R Georgiadis
Jun 13, 2015·The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience·Elizabeth C VictorAhmad R Hariri

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Citations

Apr 24, 2018·Annals of Behavioral Medicine : a Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine·Emily Barkley-LevensonStephen J Read
May 7, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Timm B PoepplSimon B Eickhoff
May 7, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Ekaterina MitrichevaHamid R Noori

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