Neural Substrates of Sexual Desire in Individuals with Problematic Hypersexual Behavior
Open accessAbstract
Studies on the characteristics of individuals with hypersexual disorder have been accumulating due to increasing concerns about problematic hypersexual behavior (PHB). Currently, relatively little is known about the underlying behavioral and neural mechanisms of sexual desire. Our study aimed to investigate the neural correlates of sexual desire with event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-three individuals with PHB and 22 age-matched healthy controls were scanned while they passively viewed sexual and nonsexual stimuli. The subjects' levels of sexual desire were assessed in response to each sexual stimulus. Relative to controls, individuals with PHB experienced more frequent and enhanced sexual desire during exposure to sexual stimuli. Greater activation was observed in the caudate nucleus, inferior parietal lobe, dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus, thalamus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the PHB group than in the control group. In addition, the hemodynamic patterns in the activated areas differed between the groups. Consistent with the findings of brain imaging studies of substance and behavior addiction, individuals with the behavioral characteristics of PHB and enhanced desire exhibited altered activation in the prefrontal cortex and subcortical regions. In conclusion, our results will help to characterize the behaviors and associated neural mechanisms of individuals with PHB.
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Individuals who report compulsive sexual behaviour, compared to those who do not, exhibit increased blood flow in the reward system of the brain in response to erotic cues, greater responsivity and attention to erotic cues, increased gray matter volume in the left amygdala, and decreased right caudate nucleus volume.
“Individuals who report compulsive sexual behaviour, as compared to individuals who do not, exhibit increased blood flow in the reward system of the brain in response to erotic cues 268-270 , greater responsivity and attention to erotic cues 271-273 , increased gray matter volume in the left amygdala 274 , and decreased right caudate nucleus volume 275 .”
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“In conclusion, our results will help to characterize the behaviors and associated neural mechanisms of individuals with PHB. Keywords: problematic hypersexual behavior, sexual desire, functional magnetic resonance imaging, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, hemodynamic…”
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- Authors
- Seok, J.-W., & Sohn, J.-H.
- Affiliations
- Chungnam National University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Sohn, Jin-Hun
- Venue
- Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2015-11-30
- Volume
- 9
- Pages
- 321-321
- ISSN
- 1662-5153 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4663274
- OpenAlex
- W2182935360
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 55 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 9.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Chungnam National University
- Korea Basic Science Institute (E35600)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- sexual desire, neural correlates, sexual stimuli, caudate nucleus, inferior parietal lobule, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, hemodynamic response, addiction-like behavior, hypersexual disorder
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