title: The structure of the amygdala associates with human sexual permissiveness: evidence from voxel-based morphometry.
abstract: Sexual behavior is a critical function of human procreation. Despite previous studies that investigated the neural mechanisms of basic human physiological sexual functions, the neural mechanisms that underlie individual differences in human sexual permissiveness remain unknown. We used voxel-based morphometry and a questionnaire (scale for sexual attitudes) to measure sexual permissiveness to investigate the gray matter and white matter structural correlates of sexual permissiveness. Sexual permissiveness was negatively correlated with regional gray matter density of the structures involving the right amygdala and surrounding areas, and positively correlated with regional white matter density of the white matter area that spread around the left amygdala to the hypothalamus area. There were no gender-specific relationships in the neural correlates of our findings. These findings suggest that structural variations in regions that play key roles in the basic physiological aspects of human sexuality underlie individual complex sexual attitudes in social life.
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nouchi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kotozaki
authors.forename: Seishu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Carlos Makoto
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sassa
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010541:Permissiveness; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D066127:White Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: amygdala; gray matter; hypothalamus; sexual permissiveness; voxel-based morphometry; white matter