SUMMARY :
Is it possible, by using modern brain functional imaging techniques,
to demonstrate the cerebral correlates of sexual desire and arousal ? We report
the results of two studies using positron emission tomography in healthy male
subjects who were presented with visual sexual stimuli. These two studies, whose
results are largely concordant, indicate that the activation of some brain regions
is related to sexual arousal. These regions comprise the left claustrum, paralimbic
regions (left anterior cingulate gyrus, right orbitofrontal cortex) and some basal
ganglia (head of right caudate nucleus, right and left putamen). For other brain
areas, there is a negative relation, as they are deactivated upon visual sexual
stimulation. Most of these areas are found in the temporal cortex. From these
studies, we derive a model of the brain processes mediating the cognitive, emotional,
motivational and autonomic components of human male sexual arousal. Thus, there
is not one single center of sexual desire or arousal. Rather, there appears to
be a "puzzle" of regions whose coactivation and/or co-deactivation are
related to the experience of sexual arousal or desire.