Korean J Urol.  2006 May;47(5):517-521. 10.4111/kju.2006.47.5.517.

Difference of Brain Activation by Visual Erotic Stimuli in Young and Middle-aged Healthy Males

• Sohn DW
• Cho KJ
• Kim HS
• Lee CB
• Kang SH
• Cho YH
• Yoon MS
• Chae JH
• Kim SW

• KMID: 2294138
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4111/kju.2006.47.5.517

Abstract

PURPOSE
The objectives of this study are to identify the brain centers whose activity changes are related to sexually arousing visual stimuli and to identify the difference between young and middle-aged males by mapping the brain activity with using blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ten young heterosexual, right handed males with normal sexual function (mean age: 27 years, age range: 24 to 31) and ten middle-aged heterosexual, right handed males with normal sexual function (mean age: 52 years, age range: 46 to 55) were enrolled into this study. Real-time visual stimulation was performed with the subjects alternatively viewing erotic and non-erotic films to identify the activated brain regions associated with sexual response. Assessments with using a five-point scale were determined after visual stimulation to evaluate the subjective sexual arousal. Brain activity was mapped by performing BOLD-fMRI on a 1.5T MR scanner. After functional scanning, the high-resolution data was analyzed with the SPM analyzing program; the significance of activation was set at p<0.01 or p<0.001.
RESULTS
The parietal lobe, frontal lobe, cingulate gyrus, caudate nucleus, thalamus and hypothalamus were noted as the areas of activation specifically associated with viewing the erotic film segments by the young males. For the middle-aged males, these areas were the parietal lobe, frontal lobe, right temporal lobe, cingulate gyrus and caudate nucleus. The thalamus and hypothalamus were activated in only the young males.
CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that the non-activation of the hypothalamus and thalamus in middle-aged males may be associated with the lesser physiological arousal in response to the erotic visual stimuli. The non-invasive visualization of the central nervous system by functional MRI in healthy males has shown the possibility for evaluating the neuroanatomy of the brain that is associated with sexual arousal and its clinical application by comparing young and middle-aged males.

Keyword

Brain; MRI; Sex

MeSH Terms

Arousal
Brain*
Caudate Nucleus
Central Nervous System
Frontal Lobe
Gyrus Cinguli
Hand
Heterosexuality
Humans
Hypothalamus
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male*
Neuroanatomy
Oxygen
Parietal Lobe
Photic Stimulation
Temporal Lobe
Thalamus
Oxygen

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Brain areas whose activation is related to erotic-visual stimuli in young healthy males.

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  Fig. 2 Brain areas whose activation is related to erotic-visual stimuli in middle aged healthy males.

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