TY - JOUR
T1 - Distinguishing specific sexual and general emotional effects in fMRI-Subcortical and cortical arousal during erotic picture viewing
AU - Walter, Martin
AU - Bermpohl, Felix
AU - Mouras, Harold
AU - Schiltz, Kolja
AU - Tempelmann, Claus
AU - Rotte, Michael
AU - Heinze, Hans Jochen
AU - Bogerts, Bernhard
AU - Northoff, Georg
PY - 2008/5/1
Y1 - 2008/5/1
N2 - Sexual activity involves excitement with high arousal and pleasure as typical features of emotions. Brain activations specifically related to erotic feelings and those related to general emotional processing are therefore hard to disentangle. Using fMRI in 21 healthy subjects (11 males and 10 females), we investigated regions that show activations specifically related to the viewing of sexually intense pictures while controlling for general emotional arousal (GEA) or pleasure. Activations in the ventral striatum and hypothalamus were found to be modulated by the stimulus' specific sexual intensity (SSI) while activations in the anterior cingulate cortex were associated with an interaction between sexual intensity and emotional valence. In contrast, activation in other regions like the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, the mediodorsal thalamus and the amygdala was associated only with a general emotional component during sexual arousal. No differences were found in these effects when comparing females and males. Our findings demonstrate for the first time neural differentiation between emotional and sexual components in the neural network underlying sexual arousal.
AB - Sexual activity involves excitement with high arousal and pleasure as typical features of emotions. Brain activations specifically related to erotic feelings and those related to general emotional processing are therefore hard to disentangle. Using fMRI in 21 healthy subjects (11 males and 10 females), we investigated regions that show activations specifically related to the viewing of sexually intense pictures while controlling for general emotional arousal (GEA) or pleasure. Activations in the ventral striatum and hypothalamus were found to be modulated by the stimulus' specific sexual intensity (SSI) while activations in the anterior cingulate cortex were associated with an interaction between sexual intensity and emotional valence. In contrast, activation in other regions like the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, the mediodorsal thalamus and the amygdala was associated only with a general emotional component during sexual arousal. No differences were found in these effects when comparing females and males. Our findings demonstrate for the first time neural differentiation between emotional and sexual components in the neural network underlying sexual arousal.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=41649117257&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=41649117257&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.01.040
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.01.040
M3 - Article
C2 - 18329905
AN - SCOPUS:41649117257
SN - 1053-8119
VL - 40
SP - 1482
EP - 1494
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
IS - 4
ER -