J Korean Radiol Soc.
2004 Aug;51(2):157-163. 10.3348/jkrs.2004.51.2.157.
Cerebral Activation Associated with Visually Evoked Sexual Arousal in the Limbic System: Functional MR Imaging
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Korea.
- 2Department of Radiology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Korea.
- 3Department of Neurology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Korea.
- 4Department of Psychology, Chonnam National University, Korea.
- 5Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University, Korea.
- KMID: 2209222
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jkrs.2004.51.2.157
Abstract
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PURPOSE: 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).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 20 sexually potent volunteers consisting of 10 males (mean age: 24) and 10 females (mean age: 23) underwent fMRI on a 1.5 T 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.
RESULTS
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.
CONCLUSION
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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