Time-course analysis of the neuroanatomical correlates of sexual arousal evoked by erotic video stimuli in healthy males.
OBJECTIVE
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.


METHODS
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.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results illustrate the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions across the three stages of visual sexual arousal.
Sundaram
Thirunavukkarasu
T
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chonnam National University Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
Jeong
Gwang-Woo
GW
Kim
Tae-Hoon
TH
Kim
Gwang-Won
GW
Baek
Han-Su
HS
Kang
Heoung-Keun
HK
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D004882:Erotica; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014743:Videotape Recording; D055815:Young Adult
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