The Experience of Sexual Emotions.The Experience of Sexual Emotions, Walter Everaerd, University of Amsterdam The experience of sexual desire and pleasure is conscious by definition. To understand how the brian constructs these feelings, I proposed a working memory model that allows the specification of contributions from (a) external or imagined stimuli, (b) physiological sexual arousal sexual arousal Horny/horniness, randy/randiness Physiology A state of sexual 'yellow alert' which has a mental component–↑ cortical responsiveness to sensory stimulation, and physical component–↑ penile sensitivity, neural response to stimuli, , and (c) explicit autobiographical memories. The integration of sources that inform experience may be facilitated by the insula INSULA, Latin. An island. In the Roman law the word is applied to a house not connected with other houses, but separated by a surrounding space of ground. Calvini Lex; Vicat, Vocab. ad voc. , an area in the cerebral cortex cerebral cortex Layer of gray matter that constitutes the outer layer of the cerebrum and is responsible for integrating sensory impulses and for higher intellectual functions. , before the information becomes available as an experience to consciousness. To demonstrate the heuristic value of the working memory model, I discuss two studies. The first study demonstrated that sexual arousal may generate negative emotions, although it is normally assumed that sexual arousal has positive valence. In a psychophysiological study with women with vaginismus vaginismus /vag·i·nis·mus/ (vaj?i-niz´mus) painful spasm of the vagina due to involuntary muscular contraction, usually severe enough to prevent intercourse; the cause may be organic or psychogenic. , we used defensive reflexes to test whether exposure to sexual stimuli, as compared to threatening stimuli, resulted in defensive muscular reactions. A small number of women with autobiographical memories of sexual abuse showed a different outcome, and the defensive reactions to sexual stimuli were more intense than to the threat stimuli. These women also reported more feelings of threat to the sexual, as compared to the threat, stimuli. Sexual stimuli may serve as retrieval cues for negative emotional memories and eventually determine the negative experience. The second study demonstrated gender differences in the generation of sexual desire or appetite, or the tendency to act upon sexual arousal. In this psychophysio-logical study, an Achilles tendon (T) reflex measure was used to study the action tendency that results from the induction of sexual arousal. In a randomized controlled trial A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a scientific procedure most commonly used in testing medicines or medical procedures. RCTs are considered the most reliable form of scientific evidence because it eliminates all forms of spurious causality. , we investigated the effects of a single dose of levodopa levodopa: see l-dopa. levodopa or L-dopa Organic compound (L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) from which the body makes dopamine, a neurotransmitter deficient in persons with parkinsonism. on T-reflex amplitude in sexually aroused men and women. We found an effect in men and not in women, which supports the view that dopamine dopamine (dōp`əmēn), one of the intermediate substances in the biosynthesis of epinephrine and norepinephrine. See catecholamine. dopamine One of the catecholamines, widely distributed in the central nervous system. is involved in appetitive sexual behavior in men. I conclude that the heuristic value of information processing models of sexual experience deserves more attention from sex researchers. |
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