Arousal and Response

1. Arousal and Response Chapter 6

2. Climax is Cultural! • In many non-Western societies female orgasm is either rare or completely unknown. • 38% of African American women reported that they always have an orgasm during sexual interaction with their primary partner. • 26% of white American women. • 34% of Hispanic women.

3. Kissing on the mouth, a universal source of sexual arousal in Western society, is rare or absent in many other parts of the world. • Oral sex, a common source of sexual arousal among much of the world. However, in much of Africa such practices are viewed as unnatural or disgusting. • Foreplay is subject to wide cultural variation. In many societies couples strive to prolong intense states of sexual arousal for several hours.

4. Its also biological…The Essential Hormones • Two basic types – Steroid & Neuropeptide • Steroid Hormones – secreted by the gonads and adrenal glands • Examples: testosterone, estrogen, etc. • Not simply male or female – both sexes produce each, but in varying amounts

5. Neuropeptide Hormones • Produced in the brain, they influence sexuality and behavior • Perhaps the most significant: • Oxytocin – the “love hormone”, it influences our erotic and emotional bonds

6. Testosterone – “the motivator” • Menhave 20 to 40 times more • Effects desire (libido) more than function • But deficiencies do decrease sensitivity and desire • Castration – the surgical removal of the testes causes dramatic reductions in sexual interest and desire

7. Testosterone uses

8. Less Testosterone • Antiandrogens – drugs which reduce testosterone levels • Occasionally given to sex offenders • Usually decreases sexual interest and activity • But sometimes offenders assault for other reasons , such as “………..”

9. Hypogonadism – testosterone deficiency due to diseases of the endocrine system • If it begins before puberty, development is slowed • If it starts after puberty, a marked decrease in desire follows

10. Estrogens and Desire • Their influence is undeniable but exact role is unclear • Research findings differ as to whether they increase desire

11. Females & Testosterone • Testosterone clearly increases female sexual desire, sensitivity and activity • True even for women after menopause or removal of the ovaries

12. Women with “normal” levels of sexual activity and hormones who receive additional testosterone show significant increases in sexual arousal, sensation and even lust • Theresa Crenshaw “…. when a woman’s testosterone dwindles, so does her sex life.”

13. More On Testosterone • Women have much less testosterone, but are much more sensitive to its effects • For women, too much testosterone causes changes to secondary sexual characteristics • Women see levels fall more rapidly after menopause than male’s more gradual decline

14. If measured, it is “free” (unattached) testosterone that matters, not “total” • Testosterone Replacement Therapy commonly available for men now, slowly becoming an option for women • Why is this option being exploded today?

15. Marketing Testosterone

16. oxytocin • A neuropeptide from the hypothalamus that effects sexual response and attraction • Bonding occurs through its release mother/child – breast feeding sexual partners – arousal and response • Autistic children have low levels and corresponding difficulties forming bonds and expressing love

18. Oxytocin and Love • Release is triggered by touch • Its circulation increases the skins sensitivity to touch • Levels increase within us as we go through the cycle of arousal to orgasm • Presence remains in blood stream after orgasm facilitating pair bonding

19. The Brain – Our Most Sexual Organ? • Our cerebral cortex stores memories and images producing powerful fantasies • Our culture has conditioned us to have certain preferences for what we consider physically attractive • World-wide prototypes? Any answers from “popular science” or “stereotypes”?

20. Sexual Arousal (cont.) Fig. 6.1 The limbic system, a region of the brain associated with emotion and motivation, is important in human sexual function. Key structures, shaded in color, include the cingulate gyrus, portions of the hypothalamus, amygdala, and the hippocampus.

21. Exemplars of Beauty • A 2005 poll of plastic surgeons revealed the following as possessing the most desired: • Nose – Nicole Kidman • Eyes – Catherine Zeta Jones • Lips – Angelina Jolie

28. The Limbic System • A subcortical brain system of several related structures that impact sexual behavior • Investigated through a number of studies

29. The Hypothalamus • Stimulation greatly arouses rats • Its destruction crushes response • Apparently, the medial preoptic area (MPOA) is especially sensitive • Heroin, morphine and other opiates suppress activity of the MPOA • Dopamine and testosterone excite it

30. Serotonin’s Influence • Presence inhibits sexual activity • Seems to have the opposite effects of dopamine • Released after males ejaculate and blocks or dampens sensitivity to dopamine and oxytocin • SSRI’s have many negative effects on sexuality • Prozac • Ecstasy

31. The Senses • Many sources of erotic stimulation • Their influence leads to tremendous variety and amazing sexual complexity

32. Touch • Our nerve endings are unevenly distributed, locations which are most sexually responsive are called our • Primary Erogenous Zones, which include our genitals, lips, buttocks, inner thighs, neck, mouth, perineum • But we find tremendous variability

33. Secondary Erogenous Zones: other areas touched within the context of sexual intimacy • Could be anywhere on the body • Established through classical conditioning? i.e.: what would we call this in our class?

34. Vision • Very important in our society • Emphasis on physical attractiveness, grooming, clothes and cosmetics • Are males more aroused by visual stimuli?

35. Much Research says, “YES!” But once women were presented with the: 1) right stimuli, 2) in the right settings, and 3) measured the right way, STRONG similarities between men and women are found although women’s self-reports say not as much…

36. Research findings suggest that when sexual arousal is measured by self-reports rather than by physiological devices, women are less inclined than men to report being sexually aroused by visual erotica (Koukounas & McCabe, 1997; D. Mosher & MacIan, 1994). • WHY IS THIS THE CASE?

37. The smell of genital secretions would be universally exciting to humans were it not for conditioning that taught some people to view it as offensive. • What is this conditioning? How is it done?

38. Smell • Are genitals smells arousing or awful? • Depends largely on where you live and your acceptance or rejection of fragrance claims. • So then…what would I argue is the largest contributing factor? • List some examples of those factors…

39. Pheromones • Odors secreted by the body which relate to reproduction • Common for mammals • The vomeronasal system relates to their use • Present in humans, • But is it functional? • Marketable? Manipulation? Legal?

40. What Works • Smells that arouse • Women – licorice, banana nut bread, cucumbers • Men – lavender, pumpkin pie, doughnuts… • Again EXTREMELY CULTURAL!

41. What Doesn’t • Women – barbecued meat, men’s cologne’s • Men – Nothing!!! • Again THIS IS CULTURAL!

42. Aphrodisiacs • Substances that supposedly increase sexual desire and capacity

43. Do They Deliver? • Many claims – little evidence • Alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine and marijuana reduce inhibitions but also sexual response • The power of suggestion seems key • Again, strong influence of culture and “magic dealing with risk”

44. Hope on the Horizon? • One substance, yohimbine hydrochloride (sap of the tropical evergreen) does increase desire and performance

45. “love, however you define it, seems to be the best aphrodisiac of all” • What is “love” anyway? Give examples.

46. Anaphrodisiacs • Substances which inhibit sexual desire and performance • Many things “work” • Drugs such as opiates, tranquilizers, and antidepressants inhibit ejaculation and cause erectile problems in males and decrease orgasmic capacity for females

47. Other Anaphrodisiacs • Birth control pills decrease free testosterone levels • Nicotine both decreases vasocongestion and reduces testosterone levels

48. Sexual Response • A highly individualized process • Research has revealed common patterns of physiological changes

49. Kaplan’s Three Stages • Desire – a prelude to physical sexual response, ignored by Masters and Johnson • Excitement • Organism

50. Sexual Response (cont.) Fig. 6.2 Kaplan’s three-stage model of the sexual response cycle. This model is distinguished by its identification of desire as a prelude to sexual response. Source: Kaplan 1979.