Brain Correlates of Human Sexual Behavior: New Insight on Models, Theories, and Experimental Research

A special issue of Sexes (ISSN 2411-5118). This special issue belongs to the section "Biological and Psychosocial Basis Underlying Sexual Response and Differences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 1209

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
2. CIBIT- Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research , 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: brain imaging methods; fMRI; EEG

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Guest Editor
Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande 016, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: EEG; fMRI; sexual objectification; dehumanization; empathy; social neuroscience

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During recent years, several scientific attempts have been made to decompose the processes and identify the brain regions involved in normal and pathological sexual behavior. It is now twenty years since the pioneering studies published by Stoleru described the cerebral basis of human sexual arousal. Afterward, additional brain imaging studies have shown a wider set of brain regions involved in different aspects of sexual stimuli processing in healthy participants and described the alterations of functional connectivity in sexual dysfunctions. This progress has been made possible by the methodological advances in the field of brain imaging and psychophysiological techniques, including the extensive use of EEG recordings. Despite these advances, even nowadays, the brain correlates of sexual behavior and its perturbations are poorly understood, representing both methodological and theoretical challenges for modern neuroscience. This Special Issue is thus dedicated to the sexual brain, with a special emphasis on neuroimaging and psychophysiological studies that attempt to untangle the complex role played by the human brain in functional and dysfunctional/altered sexual behavior. Special attention will be given to new approaches in methods and advances in theoretical models.

Dr. Nicoletta Cera
Dr. Carlotta Cogoni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • brain
  • neuroimaging
  • brain imaging methods
  • human sexual arousal
  • fMRI
  • EEG
  • theoretical modeling
  • visual sexual stimulation
  • resting state
  • functional connectivity

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 1452 KiB  
Article
Electroencephalografic Activity during the Reading of Erotic Texts with and without Aggression
by Claudia Amezcua-Gutiérrez, Marisela Hernández-González, Enrique Hernández-Arteaga, Rosa María Hidalgo-Aguirre and Miguel Angel Guevara
Sexes 2024, 5(3), 204-220; https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes5030016 - 16 Jul 2024
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Abstract
Sexual arousal (SA) is a multidimensional experience that includes cognitive, emotional, motivational and physiological components. Texts with erotic content have been used to generate a state of SA. Erotic texts often include aggressive content that has not been evaluated in relation to SA. [...] Read more.
Sexual arousal (SA) is a multidimensional experience that includes cognitive, emotional, motivational and physiological components. Texts with erotic content have been used to generate a state of SA. Erotic texts often include aggressive content that has not been evaluated in relation to SA. The aim of this work was to compare cortical functionality in women when reading a sexually explicit text (SET) and a sexually explicit text with aggression (SETA). Twenty-seven women participated. The EEG activity of the frontal, temporal and parietal locations was recorded during the reading of both texts. The participants found the SET to be more pleasant than the SETA. Both texts were identified as triggers of general and SA. While reading the SETA, there was an increase in absolute power in the frontal and parietal locations, a higher intrahemispheric correlation between the left frontal and temporal locations in fast frequency bands and a greater interhemispheric correlation between the frontal locations in the delta and alpha1 bands. These findings indicate that cortical functionality during SA in women differs based on the content and context of the erotic material being read, possibly associated with mechanisms that underlie the processing and incentive value assignment of stimuli with sexual and aggressive connotations. Full article
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