Erotic Condition Research Articles

Trial-wise exposure to visual emotional cues increases physiological arousal but not temporal discounting.

Humans and many animals devalue future rewards as a function of time (temporal discounting). Increased discounting has been linked to various psychiatric conditions, including substance-use-disorders, behavioral addictions, and obesity. Despite its high intra-individual stability, temporal discounting is partly under contextual control. One prominent manipulation that has been linked to increases in discounting is the exposure to highly arousing appetitive cues. However, results from trial-wise cue exposure studies appear highly mixed, and changes in physiological arousal were not adequately controlled. Here we tested the effects of appetitive (erotic), aversive, and neutral visual cues on temporal discounting in 35 healthy male participants. The contribution of single-trial physiological arousal was assessed using comprehensive monitoring of autonomic activity (pupil size, heart rate, electrodermal activity). Physiological arousal was elevated following aversive and in particular erotic cues. In contrast to our pre-registered hypothesis, steepness of temporal discounting was not significantly affected by emotional cues of either valence. Aversive cues tended to increase decision noise. Computational modeling revealed that trial-wise arousal only accounted for minor variance over and above aversive and erotic condition effects, arguing against a general effect of physiological arousal on temporal discounting.

Electrophysiological Responses to Rapidly-Presented Affective Stimuli Predict Individual Differences in Subsequent Attention.

We are constantly surrounded by a dynamically changing perceptual landscape that can influence our behavior even without our full conscious awareness. Emotional processing can have effects on subsequent attention, but there are mixed findings on whether it induces attentional enhancement or interference. The present study used a new multimodal approach to explain and predict such attentional effects based on individual differences in response to emotional stimuli. We briefly presented affective pictures (neutral, positive, erotic, mutilation, and horror categories) for 80 ms, immediately followed by a cued flanker task that was unrelated to the pictures. Event-related potentials (ERPs), skin conductance response (SCR), and reaction time (RT) were measured for each participant. We found that, in general, affective pictures induced higher electrophysiological responses compared with neutral pictures [P300 and late positive potential (LPP) in the erotic condition; P300, LPP, and SCR in the horror condition]. In particular, individuals who showed a strong ERP response to the pictures were impeded in the erotic condition (only P300) and facilitated in the horror condition (both P300 and LPP). Those who did not show a significant ERP or SCR response to the pictures were facilitated in the erotic condition and impeded in the horror condition. Furthermore, it was possible to classify the direction of the attentional effect from the participants’ P300, LPP, and SCR responses. These results demonstrate that underlying individual differences in emotional processing must be considered in understanding and predicting the effects of emotions on attention and cognition.

Spanish

The article suggests an ethical-anthropological reading of Thoughts, magna opera of the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, which was published after his death by his relatives and friends. Such a reading is presented in three moments: Firstly, an anthropological description aimed at answering the question 'who is man?'; secondly, an analysis of Pascal's erotic condition; and, finally, an ethical proposal as cura amoris (care for love). The main argument of the article is that every human being has a motivation in acting, that of love and being loved. Thus, having a happy or unhappy life depends on the care for this erotic condition, and the latter is achieved through thought.

A Streetcar Named “Derousal”? A Psychophysiological Examination of the Desire–Arousal Distinction in Sexually Functional and Dysfunctional Women

Research indicates that desire and arousal problems are highly interrelated in women. Therefore, hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) and female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) were removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), and a new diagnostic category, female sexual interest/arousal disorder (FSIAD), was created to include both arousal and desire difficulties. However, no research has tried to distinguish these problems based on psychosocial-physiological patterns to identify whether unique profiles exist. This study compared psychosocial-physiological patterns in a community sample of 84 women meeting DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) criteria for HSDD (n = 22), FSAD (n = 18), both disorders (FSAD/HSDD; n = 25), and healthy controls (n = 19). Women completed self-report measures and watched neutral and erotic films while genital arousal (GA) and subjective arousal (SA) were measured. Results indicated that GA increased equally for all groups during the erotic condition, whereas women with HSDD and FSAD/HSDD reported less SA than controls or FSAD women. Women in the clinical groups also showed lower concordance and greater impairment on psychosocial variables as compared to controls, with women with FSAD/HSDD showing lowest functioning. Results have important implications for the classification and treatment of these difficulties.

The effects of vaginal prolapse surgery using synthetic mesh on vaginal wall sensibility, vaginal vasocongestion, and sexual function: a prospective single-center study.

Vaginal mesh surgery in patients with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) has been associated with sexual dysfunction. Implantation of synthetic mesh might damage vaginal innervation and vascularization, which could cause sexual dysfunction. We aim to evaluate the effects of vaginal mesh surgery on vaginal vasocongestion and vaginal wall sensibility in patients with recurrent POP. A prospective study was performed among patients with previous native tissue repair, scheduled for vaginal mesh surgery. Measurements were performed before and 6 months after surgery, during nonerotic and erotic visual stimuli, using a validated vaginal combi-probe. The combi-probe involves vaginal photoplethysmography to assess Vaginal Pulse Amplitude (VPA) (representing vaginal vasocongestion) and four pulse-generating electrodes to measure vaginal wall sensibility (representing vaginal innervation). Sexual function was assessed using validated questionnaires (Female Sexual Function Index, Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised, and Subjective sexual arousal and affect questionnaire). Sixteen women were included, 14 completed the 6-month follow-up visit. Vaginal vasocongestion under erotic conditions did not significantly alter after mesh implantation. Vaginal wall sensibility of the distal posterior wall was significantly increased after mesh surgery (preoperative threshold 6.3 mA vs. postoperative 3.4 mA, P = 0.03). Sexual function as assessed with questionnaires was not significantly affected. In women with a history of vaginal prolapse surgery, vaginal mesh surgery did not decrease vaginal vasocongestion or vaginal wall sensibility. Vaginal vasocongestion prior to mesh surgery appeared to be lower than that of women never operated on. Apparently, native tissue repair decreased preoperative vaginal vasocongestion levels to such extent that subsequent mesh surgery had no additional detrimental effect. Our findings should be interpreted cautiously. Replication of the findings in future studies is essential.

The Emotional Movie Database (EMDB): A Self-Report and Psychophysiological Study

Film clips are an important tool for evoking emotional responses in the laboratory. When compared with other emotionally potent visual stimuli (e.g., pictures), film clips seem to be more effective in eliciting emotions for longer periods of time at both the subjective and physiological levels. The main objective of the present study was to develop a new database of affective film clips without auditory content, based on a dimensional approach to emotional stimuli (valence, arousal and dominance). The study had three different phases: (1) the pre-selection and editing of 52 film clips (2) the self-report rating of these film clips by a sample of 113 participants and (3) psychophysiological assessment [skin conductance level (SCL) and the heart rate (HR)] on 32 volunteers. Film clips from different categories were selected to elicit emotional states from different quadrants of affective space. The results also showed that sustained exposure to the affective film clips resulted in a pattern of a SCL increase and HR deceleration in high arousal conditions (i.e., horror and erotic conditions). The resulting emotional movie database can reliably be used in research requiring the presentation of non-auditory film clips with different ratings of valence, arousal and dominance.

Laser Doppler Imaging of Genital Blood Flow: A Direct Measure of Female Sexual Arousal

Female sexual arousal is a challenging construct to measure, partly because of the subtle nature of its indicators, vaginal lubrication and genital swelling. As a result, many instruments have been used in an attempt to accurately measure it; however, problems are associated with each. Furthermore, the relationship between subjective and physiological indicators of arousal appears to be influenced by the instrument used to measure physiological arousal. Specifically, instruments measuring physiological arousal internally yield lower correlations between measures of physiological and subjective arousal than instruments examining the external genitals. Laser Doppler imaging (LDI) is a direct measure of external genital blood flow. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of LDI for measuring genital blood flow in women in response to erotic visual stimuli, and to explore the relationship between physiological and subjective sexual arousal. Sixty-five participants watched three 15-minute films during LDI scanning. Two nature films (measuring acclimatization and baseline blood flow levels) and one randomly assigned experimental film (erotic, anxiety, humor, or neutral) were used. Participants rated their level of subjective arousal following the third film. Results indicated a significant effect of film condition on genital blood flow, P < 0.001, with the erotic condition differing significantly from the other three conditions. In terms of the relationship between physiological and subjective sexual arousal, physiological arousal was significantly predicted by subjective ratings of sexual arousal (P < 0.001). LDI appears to be able to differentiate blood flow during erotic and nonerotic conditions. In addition, physiological sexual arousal was significantly predicted by women's reported subjective sexual arousal. These findings suggest that LDI is a useful instrument for measuring female sexual arousal, and that women may be more aware of their level of physiological arousal than previously assumed.

Pedophilia is Linked to Reduced Activation in Hypothalamus and Lateral Prefrontal Cortex During Visual Erotic Stimulation

Although pedophilia is of high public concern, little is known about underlying neural mechanisms. Although pedophilic patients are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, they show no sexual interest toward adults. This study aimed to investigate the neural correlates of deficits of sexual and emotional arousal in pedophiles. Thirteen pedophilic patients and 14 healthy control subjects were tested for differential neural activity during visual stimulation with emotional and erotic pictures with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Regions showing differential activations during the erotic condition comprised the hypothalamus, the periaqueductal gray, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the latter correlating with a clinical measure. Alterations of emotional processing concerned the amygdala-hippocampus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Hypothesized regions relevant for processing of erotic stimuli in healthy individuals showed reduced activations during visual erotic stimulation in pedophilic patients. This suggests an impaired recruitment of key structures that might contribute to an altered sexual interest of these patients toward adults.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH—PHYSIOLOGY: Thermography as a Physiological Measure of Sexual Arousal in Both Men and Women

ABSTRACT Introduction Current physiological measures of sexual arousal are intrusive, hard to compare between genders, and quantitatively problematic. Aim To investigate thermal imaging technology as a means of solving these problems. Methods Twenty-eight healthy men and 30 healthy women viewed a neutral film clip, after which they were randomly assigned to view one of three other video conditions: (i) neutral (N=19); (ii) humor (N=19); and (iii) sexually explicit (N=20). Main Outcome Measures Genital and thigh temperatures were continuously recorded using a TSA ImagIR camera. Subjective measures of sexual arousal, humor, and relaxation were assessed using Likert-style questions prior to showing the baseline video and following each film. Results Statistical (Tukey HSD) post-hoc comparisons (P &amp;lt;0.05) demonstrated that both men and women viewing the sexually arousing video had significantly greater genital temperature (mean=33.89°C, SD=1.00) than those in the humor (mean=32.09°C, SD=0.93) or neutral (mean=32.13°C, SD=1.24) conditions. Men and women in the erotic condition did not differ from each other in time to peak genital temperature (men mean=664.6 seconds, SD=164.99; women mean=743 seconds, SD=137.87). Furthermore, genital temperature was significantly and highly correlated with subjective ratings of sexual arousal (range r =0.51–0.68, P &amp;lt;0.001). There were no significant differences in thigh temperature between groups. Conclusion Thermal imaging is a promising technology for the assessment of physiological sexual arousal in both men and women.

Mood and sexual arousal in women

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a positive ‘mood for sex’ on genital and subjective sexual arousal in functional women, using a musical mood induction procedure. Fifty-one female Ss were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: erotic film preceded by mood induction; erotic fantasy preceded by mood induction; erotic film without mood induction; and erotic fantasy without mood induction. Photoplethysmographic pulse amplitude was continuously recorded and self-report ratings of sexual arousal and affective reactions were collected before and after erotic conditions. Results showed that a positive sexual mood did not facilitate subsequent genital and subjective sexual arousal. Positive sexual mood did inhibit negative emotional experiences to erotic film.

Performance demand and sexual arousal in women

Up to now, no experimental studies have inquired into the possible role of performance demand in female sexuality. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of performance demand on sexual arousal in functional women, using explicit instructions. Forty-eight female subjects were asked to respond with maximum sexual arousal within 2 min, both during sexual fantasy and while watching an erotic film excerpt. Photoplethysmographic pulse amplitude was continuously recorded and self-report ratings of sexual arousal and affective reactions were collected after each erotic condition. Subjects were also instructed to continuously indicate their subjective sexual excitement during the conditions by means of a lever. Performance demand resulted in higher genital responses and was most effective in the fantasy condition. These results corroborate the findings for functional men. Although for both measures of subjective experience of sexual arousal performance demand yielded significantly higher ratings, this was conditioned by the order in which subjects were exposed to conditions. Women who masturbate with a mean frequency of 4 times a month reported higher subjective sexual arousal during performance demand conditions as compared with women who masturbate substantially more or who do not masturbate. Genital vasocogestion did not differ between masturbation-groups. Continuous subjective monitoring yielded lower correlations with vasocongestion than discrete ratings of sexual arousal and appears to be more sensitive to order effects.

Coitus-induced ovulation and its implications for estimates of some reproductive parameters.

It is estimated here that, at the time of conception, the mean coital rate of young women who subsequently bear DZ twins is about 6% higher than that of the general population of young married women. This differential seems too small to account wholly for the greater promptness in conceiving DZ twins. Accordingly, it is suggested that coital rate is associated with DZ twinning in two ways. The major link seems to be indirect and mediated by erotic response which causes an increase in gonadotrophin levels and thus in double ovulation. In a minority of cases, frequent coitus may give rise to DZ twins via superfecundation, but it seems that, in human beings, the corpus luteum of one ovum will usually inhibit fertilization of any further ova after a short interval. The evidence presented here, though indirect, seems to suggest that, under particularly erotic conditions, double ovulation is sometimes induced. It seems reasonable to infer that coitus also occasionally provokes or accelerates single ovulations, thus impugning some rhythm methods of contraception. But there seems no very good evidence that rape induces ovulation. Some notes are added on the implications of induced ovulation for estimates of fecundability and of the length of the fertile period.

The endocrine effects of visual erotic stimuli in normal men

Endocrine responses to erotic stimulation in the laboratory were assessed in eight normal subjects. Each subject was tested on two occasions. On one occasion only neutral stimuli were involved. After 15 min baseline, 30 min of films were shown. For the erotic condition on the other occasion, two 10-min erotic films were interspersed with 10 min of neutral film. Fifteen-minute blood samples were taken from the start of each test and continued for 5 hr after the films. Plasma was assayed for testosterone, LH, prolactin, cortisol, ACTH and β-endorphin. Urine was collected for 4 hr before and 4 hr after the films ;this was assayed for adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine. Sexual arousal occurred in response to the erotic films in all subjects, as shown by erectile and subjective responses. There were no significant changes in hormone or catecholamine levels following either the erotic or the neutral stimuli, except for a rise in cortisol during the neutral but not the erotic film. These results indicate that in the laboratory, substantial sexual response can occur without accompanying endocrine or biochemical changes.

Subjective sexual arousal and involvement: Development of multiple indicators

Three measures of subjective sexual arousal were observed across four erotic conditions in a sample of 241 college men and women (a) to refine two multi‐item scales of subjective sexual arousal, (b) to determine the convergent and discriminant validity of three measures of sexual arousal, and (c) to relate these operational definitions of subjective sexual arousal to the construct of subjective sexual arousal within Mosher's (1980) involvement theory. From the perspective of involvement theory, subjective sexual arousal is conceived to be an affect‐cognition blend, consisting of awareness of physiological sexual arousal, sexual affects, and affect‐cognition blends, which is transmuted into consciousness and deepens involvement by amplifying the perception of sexual stimulation, sexual cognitions, sexual behavior, physiological sexual response, and itself. Evidence of convergent validity was strong with a median validity coefficient of .51 for the three measures across the four conditions.

Cognitive distraction in female sexual arousal.

ABSTRACTThis study was designed to assess the relationship between subjective and physiological measures of female sexual arousal during the presentation of an erotic stimulus and when an erotic stimulus was presented concurrently with a distracting stimulus. Twenty‐four females were exposed to baseline, erotic stimulus, and erotic stimulus plus distraction conditions while subjective and vaginal photoplethysmographic indices of sexual arousal were monitored. The erotic stimulus was an audiotaped description of explicit sexual activity, primarily from the perspective of a female. The cognitive distraction consisted of a series of visually presented, simple addition tasks. The results suggested significant increases in subjective and photoplethysmographic measures of sexual arousal from baseline to erotic stimulus conditions and significant decreases in both measures of sexual arousal when the distraction task was added to the erotic stimulus. Correlations between subjective and photoplethysmographic measures of sexual arousal were nonsignificant during the erotic condition, but significant when the distraction task was added to the erotic stimulus. The women were divided into “frequently” and “infrequently” orgasmic groups to further investigate the relationship between subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal. Analyses revealed no between‐group differences in subjective or photoplethysmographic measures during any condition. Correlations between the two measures of sexual arousal were significant during all conditions for the “frequently” orgasmic groups and nonsignificant during all conditions for the “infrequently” orgasmic group.

Vaginal pulse amplitude response patterns during erotic conditions and sleep.

Vaginal photoplethysmography has been used to investigate sexual arousal response patterns in small samples of sexually functional and dysfunctional women, but selection of subjects for these studies has not been of a standardized nature. In the present study, two groups of women, who placed in either the upper or lower percentile ranks on the Sexual Arousal Inventory (Hoon et al., 1976a), were compared on a physiological measure of sexual arousal, vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA), during both waking erotic conditions and sleep. As hypothesized, no differences in VPA were found between groups during either waking or sleeping conditions. Contrary to expectation, groups also did not differ on subjective ratings of their laboratory arousal. With both groups combined, differences in VPA levels were evident between baseline and erotic conditions. Similarly, VPA levels differed between stages of sleep, with highest levels observed during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. These findings suggest that self-reported low arousability is not based on lack of physiological response and that retrospective, self-report measures of sexual arousability differ in important ways from subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal in the laboratory. In order to adequately assess sexual arousability, future researchers must either devise laboratory conditions that more closely resemble erotic stimuli occurring in subjects' natural environments or validate physiological measures of arousal in nonlaboratory settings. Finally, the nocturnal evaluation of VPA seems potentially useful for cases in which organic factors may be contributing to sexual dysfunction.

A causal model of sexual arousal to erotic fantasies

To test a causal model derived from discrete affect (Tomkins, 1962) and involvement (Mosher, 1980) theories, 120 male and 121 female subjects responded to four erotic conditions with self‐reports of discrete affects and subjective sexual arousal. The four erotic conditions were (a) recall of a past heterosexual episode, (b) recall of a past masturbatory episode, (c) free sex fantasy, and (d) guided sex fantasy. The model posits (a) a direct effect of sex on sex guilt only; (b) sex guilt and masturbation guilt would have direct effects and indirect effects on sexual arousal; and (c) discrete positive affects would amplify sexual arousal, discrete negative affects would attenuate sexual arousal, and discrete affects would mediate the indirect effects of sex guilt on sexual arousal. Covariance structure analysis (Duncan, 1975; Kenny, 1979) was used to generate path coefficients. Incremental fit indices indicated an excellent goodness of fit of the model. Sex had no significant paths. Sex guilt had both direc...

A comparison of male and female patterns of sexual arousal.

The structural patterns of sexual arousal are examined for eight male and eight female heterosexuals. Comparisons are made in terms of physiological and subjective arousal. The results indicate (1) that males and females differ in both the direction and magnitude of their arousal response to a variety of erotic stimuli and (2) that there is a stronger correspondence between subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal for males than for females. A social acceptability and/or unacceptability theory is suggested to account for similarities and differences between the male and female structural patterns of arousal. Several methods of assessing subjective arousal are included to represent those most frequently used in clinical research settings. It is demonstrated that each of the subjective measures discriminates between erotic conditions and that the information provided by each of the measures are comparable.