Thermistor Measurement of Male Sexual Arousal

Penile erection is accompanied by genital vasocongestion which increases penile skin temperature. These changes should be measurable using thermistors attached to the penis. The present study compared the UUT51J1 Uni-Curve thermistor placed on the penis with the Barlow strain gauge in the assessment of sexual arousal in 8 heterosexual males. Sexual stimuli consisted of 3, 3-min exposures to heterosexually explicit black-and-white videotapes. The results indicated that the two measures were highly positively correlated with each other and with self-report. However, the strain gauge followed detumescence more closely than the thermistor and was more strongly correlated with subjective arousal. Also, the two probes differed as to when they reached peak response. The strain gauge typically reached its highest point prior to the end of the film, while the thermistor always peaked during the early post-film interval. The thermistor's slow transition from temperature increases to decreases during the initial moments of detumescence appeared to be its principal shortcoming as a measure of male sexual arousal.     

The Relationship Between Sexual Arousal Experience and Genital Response

In studies of sexuality, there has been a wide divergence in findings concerning the correlation between the subjective and genital measurements of sexual arousal. The present study is aimed at helping clarify this situation by examining the role of certain factors involved in determining the subjective-genital correlation. Thus, the following study was designed to (1) employ a methodology aimed at improving the correlation between the subjective and genital measurements of arousal in women, and (2) determine the effect of attending to bodily cues upon the subjective-genital relationship. To accomplish this end, 36 female subjects were separated into two experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups were given instructions suggesting that they attend to either genital or non-genital body signals of sexual arousal while viewing a series of 10 erotic slides. Subjects in the control group were given no attention instructions. Subjective levels of arousal to the erotic slides were scaled by having subjects set the intensity of sound and light to match their intensity of arousal (cross-modality matching) and by using a rating scale. Genital measures of sexual arousal consisted of measurement of vaginal pulse amplitude. Analyses revealed that group computed correlations were very high and that individually computed subjective-genital correlations were highest in the attention groups. Paying attention to bodily cues has a significant and positive effect on the subjective-genital relationship. Possible explanations for these results are given along with a discussion of the role of methodological variables in influencing the genital-subjective correlation. The finding of high levels of correlation raises doubts on the heretofore made assumption of low subjective-genital correlations for women.     

Physiological and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Pre- and Postmenopausal Women and Postmenopausal Women Taking Replacement Therapy

Twenty premenopausal, 14 postmenopausal, and 14 postmenopausal women receiving replacement estrogen therapy were studied to determine whether differences in hormone status were associated with differences in physiological and subjective sexual responses. All subjects viewed a neutral, an erotic, and a second neutral videotape while photoplethysmographic vaginal pulse amplitude was continuously recorded. Self-report ratings of sexual arousal and affective response were collected. Serum levels of testosterone, estradiol, estrone, and luteinizing hormone were obtained. The three groups did not differ in either average or maximum vaginal pulse amplitude to the videotapes nor in latency of sexual response. The postmenopausal women not taking replacement estrogen reported significantly less vaginal lubrication in response to the erotic videotape than the higher estrogen premenopausal and replacement hormone groups. Estradiol level was significantly correlated with ratings of vaginal lubrication in response to the erotic videotape but not with vaginal pulse amplitude. Results thus suggest that estrogen is important in maintaining vaginal lubrication and the perception of sexual arousal but not in determining vaginal vasocongestion.     

Physiological Assessment of Sexual Arousal in Women

The purpose of this investigation was to validate the use of vaginal photoplethysmography along with six other physiological measures for the assessment of sexual arousal in women. Six women in counterbalanced order were presented control, dysphoric, and sexually arousing videotapes. Subjective ratings revealed that subjects experienced moderate levels of sexual and anxiety arousal during the videotapes, and comprehension quizzing at the end of the experiment showed that subjects attended to the content. Heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance response failed to discriminate between any of the videotapes. In order from highest to lowest sensitivity, vaginal blood volume, skin conductance, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and forehead temperature showed significant increases during the erotic videotape. Though sensitive, skin conductance appeared to he unreliable. Areas for further research were identified.     

Facial Electromyography: A Measure of Affective Processes During Sexual Arousal

Forty female volunteers participated in a study to investigate whether facial EMGs could be used as measures of affect during sexual arousal. Audiotaped narratives were used to induce the following affect-sexual states: 1) pleasant affect + sexual arousal, 2) unpleasant affect + sexual arousal, 3) pleasant affect + no sexual arousal, and 4) unpleasant affect + no sexual arousal. EMG activity was recorded bilaterally from the corrugator and zygomatic muscle regions. Corrugator muscle activity was significantly greater in response to the unpleasant stimulus conditions. This relationship held for both the non-sexual and sexual conditions, suggesting that corrugator muscle activity may provide a reliable index of negative affect during sexual arousal. Zygomatic activity was significantly greater during the sexual as compared to the non-sexual stimuli, but did not increase as a function of pleasant affect. Greater left than right corrugator muscle activity was observed in response to the sexual stimuli. Left muscle superiority was also noted for zygomatic muscle activity, in response to the sexual unpleasant stimulus. Issues related to the interpretation of lateralized muscle activity are discussed.     

Male Sexual Arousal and the Law of Initial Value

Penile circumference was measured for 24 men before and during exposure to erotic material of matched content presented in 5 modes: film, slides, spoken, written, and fantasy. Stimulation in each case involved 8, 2-min episodes graded in content from low to high heterosexual arousal value. Three indices were used to test for the Law of Initial Value (LIV). No consistent evidence was obtained that stimulation levels or change scores varied systematically with prestimulus baseline values. The data indicate that male sexual arousal can be investigated without the need to adjust change scores to take into account initial value, at least when guided relaxation has been used to stabilize basal rates.     

Male Sexual Arousal as a Function of the Content and the Vividness of Erotic Fantasy

Physiological and subjective arousal were measured across 5 sessions, each separated by a day or more, in which males attempted to induce erection through fantasy. Stable individual differences in the capacity to achieve voluntary enhancement of penile tumescence were found. The men who were most able to enhance erection were those who reported the greatest use of sexually arousing fantasy themes. In a second experiment, which employed structured rather than unstructured fantasy, sexual arousal was studied as a function of the content of fantasy and tbe vividness with which participants could form images (as assessed by Beits Q.M.I. Scale). Fantasy themes that had been independently rated as high in erotic value produced greater changes in penile circumference relative to baseline than themes of lower erotic value. Men with vivid imagery were more sexually aroused during fantasy than men with non-vivid imagery. The interaction between the content and vividness of fantasy was not significant. These results indicate that the extent to which men can induce erection through fantasy depends not only on the sexual themes that the men use during fantasy, but on the vividness of the images they form.     

Does the Menstrual Cycle Play a Role in Sexual Arousal?

Menstrual cycle effects on erotic arousability were tested in 13 women aged 20–28. Vaginal blood volume and pulse amplitude were measured with a light emitting diode photoplethysmograph, labial temperature was measured by a small thermistor, and subject self-report of arousal was estimated on a 7-point Likert scale in response to audio erotic tapes and fantasy over five different phases of the menstrual cycle. Pre-session levels of blood volume and labial temperature showed no important changes across the cycle, but pooled blood volume, pulsatile blood volume and labial temperature reliably demonstrated sexual arousal during tape and fantasy sessions. Repeated measures analyses of variance and covariance of physiological change scores from baseline and subjective ratings failed to demonstrate that significant changes in self-reports, vaginal blood volume, vaginal pulse amplitude, or labial temperature occurred as a function of menstrual cycle phase. This study provides objective physiological evidence that there appears to be no one phase in the menstrual cycle during which women are more sexually arousable to erotic stimuli as detected by these physiological measures.     

Shock Threat and Sexual Arousal: The Role of Selective Attention, Thought Content, and Affective States

In an attempt to detail cognitive processes during anxiety and sexual arousal, 16 heterosexual males were presented with brief erotic audiotapes simultaneous with four levels of shock threat (no shock, half tolerance, tolerance, and twice tolerance threat). Subjects were instructed to pay close attention to the audiotapes, following which a sentence recognition task was administered to assess stimulus-focused attention. Additionally at these times, they were given a thought-listing task and completed a series of affect ratings. Tumescence and subjective arousal were monitored continuously during the erotic stimuli. Results revealed that tolerance shock threat decreased tumescence (p<.05). In contrast, recognition memory was greatest during tolerance shock threat and diminished during twice tolerance shock threat, which also produced increased reports of emotional stales. Issues regarding the relation between cognition and sexual arousal are discussed, including implications for understanding sexual dysfunction.     

An in vivo comparison of two circumferential penile strain gauges: The introduction of a new calibration method

This study assessed the comparability of two types of penile strain gauges using both a circular and a newly developed oval calibration device. A group of 25 sexually functional participants places both an electromechanical and an indium/gallium-in-rubber strain gauge on the penis and viewed an erotic film. The electromechanical gauge as calibrated on the circular device resulted in greater penile circumference changes than the indium/gallium-in-rubber gauge. Mean circumference changes were not different for the two strain gauges when the oval calibration device was used. The use of an oval calibration device improves ecological validity of calibration of penile strain gauges. Standard inclusion of this method in studies on male sexual response will increase comparability of research findings.     

A Cognitive-Physiological Process Model of Sexual Arousal and Response

Three decades of research have focused on identifying cognitive and physiological processes in human emotion. The mechanisms by which these components interact to mediate sexual arousal are unknown, and scientific knowledge on women Is lacking. New findings have identified (a) key components of sexual response, (b) mechanisms by which cognitive and physiological processes form a feedback loop in the mediation of sexual arousal, and (c) a method to increase genital response and cognitive expectancy, via pairing general autonomic activation and physiological genital feedback. This approach interrupted the dysfunctional process and initiated a positive cognitive-physiological feedback loop of sexual arousal to levels comparable with sexually functional women within 3 min. This empirically derived process model identifies a cognitive-physiological pathway for sexual response, and a potential common pathway for emotion processing and an integrated behavioral medicine approach to women's health.     

Penile deafferentation and the effect of mating experience on sexual motivation in adult male rats

In the present study naive male rats were used, in which before or after housing for 5 days with receptive females penile deafferentation was performed by means of transection of the pudendal nerves. In subsequent mating tests the males were only able to exhibit mounting behavior. It appeared that the animals with mating experience prior to penile denervation, mounted significantly more than the animals that had been denervated before housing with the females. Furthermore the last group showed longer contact latencies, which were similar to those observed in denervated animals that had not been housed with females. It is concluded that the reinforcing value of copulatory performances upon sexual motivation in the rat is completely dependent upon the integrity of penile afferent innervation.     

Testing cognitive predictors of individual differences in the sexual psychophysiological responses of sexually functional women

The literature on sexual responses shows a large and not fully understood between‐women variance in sexual responses and in strength of coherence between physiological and subjective sexual responses. This study investigated cognitive factors theorized to be associated with sexual responses that could explain such variance. Specifically, we investigated the predictive value of sexual excitation/inhibition and sexual schemas on sexual response and coherence. Vaginal photoplethysmography and continuous subjective sexual arousal were collected from 29 young women while they watched a control/erotic video sequence. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that high sexual excitation and schemas related to passion and romance were related to higher coherence. These findings support the notion that cognitive factors that enhance sexual arousal contribute to the large variation seen in the coherence of sexual response as measured in the laboratory.     

Sexual expression and its determinants in the post-menopausal woman

Anatomic, hormonal, psychosocial and psychosexual variables of sexual expression were evaluated in 69 non-patient post-menopausal women. Subjects received a 2-h individually administered interview, a gynecologic examination with subjective scoring of vaginal atrophy, and serum determinations of estrone. estradiol, and androstenedione, testosterone, FSH and LH. Sexual repertoire of the 34 coitally active (coitus > 3× monthly) was compared to the 29 coitally inactive (coitus < 10× yearly) subjects. The majority of subjects engaged in traditional sexual activities, with emphasis on physical affection and coitus. The active and inactive women were similar on all demographic variables except family income and weight/height ratio. The inactive women were slightly more obese and had lower incomes. Post-menopausal patterns of sexual activity correlated with post-menopausal sexual expression as did partner availability and function. The active women had a significantly higher LH level. No correlation was found between current or ideal sexual frequency and'androgen or estrogen levels.     

Type a Behavior and Self Reports of Cardiovascular Arousal in Adolescents

Abstract

The association of adolescent Type A behavior with reports of cardiovascular arousal and sleep disturbances was examined. Previous research on the Framingham cohort indicates a cross-sectional relationship between symptoms of arousal and Type A behavior in both sexes, and a prospective relationship bet ween arousal and coronary heart disease incidence in women. Certain sleep patterns have been related to behavior pattern status in a college-aged population. In the current study, Type A behavior was assessed by the Adolescent Structured Interview (ASI), which yields three factor scores: interview behaviors, impatience, and harddriving. Endorsement of symptoms of cardiovascular arousal and sleep disturbances was compared for subjects above and below the median on each of the factor scores. The results showed that the impatience score is strongly related to reports of cardiovastular arousal, the harddriving factor yields a weaker relationship, and the interview behaviors factor was unrelated to reports of arousal. No relationship of Tvpe A behavior and sleep disturbances was found. These data support the usefulness of the component scoring of the ASI, and are encouraging of future research on the cardiovascular processes of the young.     

保留龟头的肿瘤切除术对T1期阴茎癌患者疗效及性功能的影响

目的 分析T1期阴茎癌行保留龟头的肿瘤切除术加腹腔镜腹股沟淋巴结清扫术对患者疗效及性功能的影响。方法 回顾性分析我院及中山大学附属肿瘤医院自2014年1月~2018年6月收治的8例行保留龟头的阴茎肿瘤切除术（保留龟头组）与10例行阴茎部分切除术（部分切除组）的T1期阴茎癌患者临床资料,术后随访了解其局部及远处复发情况,采用国际勃起功能指数问卷（ⅡEF-5）、性满意指数（ISS）问卷分别在术后6个月评估患者的勃起功能和性满意度,对数据进行统计学分析。结果随访6月~5年,1例保留龟头患者出现原发肿瘤复发,其余患者均未见肿瘤复发及转移。术后6个月,保留龟头组的患者ⅡEF-5评分为（24.48±1.89）分,与术前的（24.53±2.41）分比较,差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）,但高于阴茎部分切除组患者的（21.59±3.26）分,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）;保留龟头组的ISS评分为（36.38±16.11）分,与术前的（38.27±14.38）分比较,差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）,但低于阴茎部分切除组患者的（57.63±15.63）分,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。结论 对于T1期的阴茎癌患者,保留龟头的手术加上腹腔镜腹股沟淋巴结清扫术安全有效,并可使患者维持更好的性功能和满意度。     

汉族男女头面部表面解剖观测及性别差异

目的：通过对汉族男女性眼、鼻、口、耳廓外形的解剖学观测,为男女性颅面外科的整形美容与假体制作提供表面解剖数据。方法i对各30具汉族男女性成尸眼睑、外鼻、口唇、耳廓的外形进行表面观测。结果：①睑裂长男性（35．0±5．6）mm,女性（34．7±4．1）mm;睑裂中部高男性（14．3±4．7）mm,女性（10．1±3．9）mm;上睑睫毛数男性（108．6±31．5）根,女性（103．1±28．7）根,下睑睫毛数男性（74．0±31．5）根、女性（61．1±28．2）根。②鼻背长男性（41．4±5．2）mm,女性（41．6±4．0）mm;鼻尖高男性（12．6±3．0）mm,女性（16．6±3．5）mm;鼻底宽男性（37．3±7．8）mm,女性（37．1±3．9）mm。③121裂长男性（52．8±9．9）mm,女性（50．0±11．1）mm;上唇中点厚男性（5．9±2．2）mm,女性（6．8±2．0）mm;下唇中点厚男性（6．0±1．6）mm,女性（7．8±1．9）mm。④耳廓高男性（59．7±6．2）mm,女性（62．7±5．9）mm;耳廓宽男性（33．4±6．3）mm,女性（32．1±5．1）mm,耳垂厚男性（6．0±2．3）mm,女性（6．7±2．1）mm。结论：根据汉族男女性成尸眼、鼻、口、耳廓的外形测量数据,为临床颅面外科、整形美容和遗体整容及再造假体提供形态学参考依据。     

Sexual Aggression in Mice: Effects of Male Strain and of Female Estrous State

We have observed that 50% of FVB/NtacfBR (FVB) males were aggressive toward females in tests of mating behavior. We decided to gather basic evidence for an effect of genotype on this behavior by testing for strain differences between FVB and C57BL/6J (B6) male mice. Also, hypotheses developed from theoretical work on sexually coercive behavior suggest there should be a cycling effect on sexually aggressive behavior (Smuts and Smuts, 1993). We tested for an estrous cycling effect by using stimulus females in a state of either estrus or diestrus. Both strains modulated mating behavior to female cycling state. Cycling state did not modulate B6 aggression. FVB males were more aggressive than B6 males, and cycling state modulated their behavior. We conclude that sexually aggressive male mice modulate aggressive behavior to female social signals and indicate how this data can be used to study the genetics of sexual aggression.     

Arousal and ventilatory responses to hypoxia in sleeping infants: effects of maternal smoking

Our aim was to determine whether maternal cigarette smoking affects arousal and ventilatory responses to hypoxia in infants. Infants born to non-smoking (NS, n = 15) and smoking mothers (SM, n= 9) were studied at 2-5 weeks, 2-3 and 5-6 months. Ventilatory responses to 15% O(2) were determined preceding arousal. At each age and in both groups, infants aroused more frequently and earlier to hypoxia in active sleep (AS) than quiet sleep (QS). Arousal latency was longer in SM infants (in QS) at 5-6 months (P < 0.05). Baseline respiratory parameters were not different between groups, except that, at 2-3 months, SM infants had higher SP(O2) during AS than NS infants. Maternal smoking did not affect ventilatory responses preceding hypoxia-induced arousal in either sleep-state at any age. We conclude that mild hypoxia stimulates ventilation and arousal in infants up to 6 months and that arousability is depressed in SM infants at 5-6 months; however, ventilatory responses preceding arousal are not adversely affected by smoking.