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Neuroscience and sexual behaviour
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Female sexual arousal disorder and male erectile disorder consist of the two disorders of excitement. Female arousal disorder involves the inability to attain or maintain lubrication or genital swelling during sexual activity. Male erectile disorder involves the inability to attain or maintain an erection during sexual activity. Female arousal disorder is often paired with orgasmic disorder. Biological causes of male erectile dysfunction include hormonal imbalances, vascular problems, “damage to the nervous system as a result of diabetes, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, kidney failure, or treatment by dialysis” (Comer, 2013, p. 393). Female arousal and orgasmic disorder can be linked to diabetes, neurological disorders, and some medications can effect this disorder. These causes need to be addressed by physicians. Depression is one of the psychological causes of erectile disorder and female orgasmic/arousal disorders. Erectile disorder can also be caused by performance anxiety or taking on the spectator role. Female orgasmic and arousal disorders may also be caus...
Keesling, if very prompt to establish that the female orgasm is controversial, but needless to say, so is that of the male orgasm. She also goes on to say, that after extensive studies in sex laboratories, it was also discovered that like males, females also ejaculate but it is often too little to be acknowledged. This idea was initially published in The G Spot by Alice Ladas, Hohn Perry and Beverly Whipple. The male orgasm, for years, has been some what of a discrepancy because for a long time, Keesling says that the average man was believed to be incapable of obtaining multiple orgasms. Believe it or not, these ideas are past on through generations and the mind is so powerful, that even if they are capable, if men believe they cannot then, they will not.
Sildenafil is a pharmaceutical breakthrough not only because it is the most effective treatment for erectile dysfunction available, but also because it is "the first in a new class of medications" (FDA, par. 3). But to understand how this drug works, it is necessary to explain the physiology of erection in the normally functioning male. Under normal circumstances, sexual excitement results in the release of nitric oxide. Next, the nitric oxide will activate guanylate cyclase, ...
Psychoanalysts feel that somatoform disorders are caused by unresolved sexual impulses that produce intense anxiety that is converted into physical symptoms. Because of this conversion the original anxiety produced is now reduced, this process is termed primary gain, but if the person is allowed to escape or avoid stressful life situations.
When a man fails to keep and erection strong enough for a sexual intercourse can be considered to be erectile dysfunction. It can be a sign of any health or mental disorder that can be treatable with prop...
An alternative position in this realm is the neurophysiological hypothesis proposed by Flor-Henry (1987).. As such, he proposed that the observed EEG differences in sex-offenders were reflective of a pathological neural organisation in the dominant hemisphere thus giving rise to abnormal sexual representations, which in turn lead to, disrupted connections with the non-dominant hemisphere. Consequently, only these abnormal ideas are capable of eliciting an orgasmic response. Contrary to these theories is the hypothesis that brain dysfunction may not produce the sexual urges; rather it may function to weaken an individu...
Sexual dysfunction can be defined as the inability to partake in or enjoy sexual relationship with one's partner as a result of underlying physical and/or psychological factors (Hoel, 1998). Physical attributions play a large part in both males and females and their ability to perform and enjoy sex. Males encounter several normal changes as they become older. A decrease in the hormone testosterone is very common amongst males with increasing age. Testosterone is beneficial because it gives a decrease in body fat, an increase in energy, including sexual energy, and an increase in lean muscle. These factors are important for physical attraction one has for another, definitely improving the outcome of sexual arousal. The size and firmness of the testicles may be reduced because of this decrease as well. The sexual response phase also changes with age. During the beginning of sex, an older man may experience a delay in his erection and when erect, the penis may not be as firm as when younger. ...
“Once the etiology of a sexual disorder has been established, treatment can begin.” Most sexual problems can be treated through conventional methods like sexual education a man or a woman is taken into a room with a physician and proceeds with a “general, non-threatening examination of the eyes, ears, mouth, heart, and lungs.” The patient is then asked to lie down so that the physician can further the examination by tenderizing the patients genital areas. After the examination, the patients are then asked about “their thoughts and feelings about the examination.” When this approach to rehabilitation does not work, another method used is called psychotherapy. This procedure uses a very simple and universal treatment in the forms of self-pleasure. “With genital pleasuring, the goal is that the patient should learn to produce and respond to his/her own sexual arousal.”
Rosen, R.C., (2007). Erectile dysfunction: Integration of medical and psychological approaches. In S.R. Leiblum (Ed), Principles and practices of sex therapy (4th ed.) (pp.277-310). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
To begin, abnormality in individual sexual responsiveness is called sexual dysfunctions. Sexual dysfunctions are defined by the individual and there is no correct pattern of sexual activity; what one individual may consider dysfunctional, another may consider it normal and healthy. In addition, there are many characterizations to this dysfunction such as sexual aversion disorder, hypoactive sexual desire disorder, sexual arousal disorder, and orgasmic disorder.
Through case study, the psychodynamic approach was developed by Sigmund Freud. Freud visited Charcot’s, a laboratory in Paris investigating people suffering from hysteria. There, Freud began patient case studies (Crain, p. 254). Freud developed 5 stages of human development known as the Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital stages. The Oral stage is from the ages of birth to 18 months. This stage engages in oral activities such as sucking. Next the Anal stage begins around age 18 months to 3 years of age. Freud suggests that during the Anal stage a child focuses on the pleasure of purging from the rectal area. The Phallic stages, none as the masturbation stage, when a child get’s pleasure from focusing on his genital areas usually happens during ages 3 years to 6 years of age. After the Phallic stage come the Latency stages. Latency is when children at the ages of 6 to 12 years old work to develop cognitive and interpersonal skills suppressing sexual interests but those 12 years and older fall into the Genital stages. During the Genital stage those suppressed sexual interests re-occur and the need to find gratification dependent on finding a partner (Craig & Dunn, p 12)
Because a relationship is proposed to exist between dysfunction and performance anxiety, researchers believe that performance anxiety can either be the reason a sexual dysfunction arises or that it further exacerbates the problem. For example, a male who suffers from erectile dysfunction worries about his ability to achieve and maintain an erection during intercourse. He becomes so focused on whether or not he will be able to achieve an erection, that his ability to perform is even further diminished by his increased level of performance anxiety. Likewise, a female who suffers from a dysfunction in which she experiences difficulty in reaching orgasm might worry that her partner is tired or bored with trying to help her reach her climax or that she is taking too long to reach climax (McCabe, 2005).
Men and women sexually go through a cycle. This cycle is known as the sexual response cycle. The sexual response cycle is made up of four different phases, the excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution phases. The cycle is also categorized in two ways, vasocongestion and myotonia. Vasocongestion is where swelling occurs because blood rushes to certain areas of the body such as earlobes, for women to the opening of the vaginal area, and for men around the testes, it also causes the erection of the penis. Myotonia is what causes hands and feet to spasm, affects the face, and the involuntary movements of orgasm, these occur because the muscles are tightening creating these movements and spasms to occur. (Nevid & Ruthus, 2005).
Arousal Disorder is the inability to become physically aroused or excited during sexual activity. Sexual arousal disorders were known as frigidity in women and impotence in men. “Occasional impotence occurs in approximately 50 percent of American adult men, and chronic impotence affects about 1 in 8 American men, with the chances increasing as a person ages.” High blood pressure, smoking and liver disease are a few causes of Arousal disorder. Self-stimulation and the Masters and Johnson treatment strategies are used to treat problems associated with orgasm and sexual arousal disorders. Studies show that 70% of men with low testosterone have erectile dysfunction and 63% say that...
Dombeck, Mark, PhD. "Introduction to Sexual Disorders." Mentalhelp. N.p., 1 Apr. 2002. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Considering the behavioural inhibition system is related to variables that correlate with low sensation seeking, such as anxiety (Segal, 1973), it was expected higher BIS scores and lower Sensation Seeking scores would explain female’s restricted sociosexuality. As high sensation seekers share traits with sociosexually-unrestricted individuals, such as disinhibition, it was expected that male’s unrestricted sociosexuality could be explained by higher sensation seeking scores and lower BIS scores. Therefore, the second hypothesis was that gender differences in sensation seeking and BIS would mediate the gender differences in sociosexuality.