Title: Psychobiological Factors in Human Sexuality and their Relevance to Research
1Psycho-biological Factors in Human Sexuality and
their Relevance to Research
2Importance of Knowledge to Public Private Health
- Normal sexual development
- Sex education
- Sexuality in marriage
3Problems Related to Sex and to Public Private
Health
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Unplanned pregnancies
- Sexual assaults and rape
- Child sexual abuse
- Sexual dysfunctions
4Why is this so difficult?
- Because sex is unique in the link between
behavior and physiological response - Our behavior is influenced by the physiological
state we call sexual arousal - Problems result because
- People get sexually aroused when they shouldnt
or - They dont get sexually aroused when they should
5Important research questions
- Why do some people take sexual risks?
- Most of us manage to avoid them most of the time
- Why do some people develop sexual interests which
get them (and others) into trouble - E.g. sexually assaulting adults, or abusing
children? - Why problems with sexual response?
- Why are some people more vulnerable to such
problems?
6Other Important research questions
- How can we help people to manage their sexual
lives more sensibly? - How can we reduce the likelihood of unacceptable
sexual behavior? - How can we help with problems of sexual response?
7What is sex research?Mostly asking people
questions about their sexual lives- face-to-face
interviews- questionnaires-computerized methods
8The psycho-biological approachWilliam Masters
and Virginia Johnson were pioneers in the 1960s
9The Hannover Group, West GermanyKruger and
colleagues (1998-)Biochemical and hormonal
changes during sexual arousal and following
orgasm
10Increase in prolactin after orgasm (ten minute
intervals)
11The Rigiscan
12Response
13No Response
14What about genital response in women?
15Vaginal Photoplethysmography
16Vaginal Photoplethysmography
17Examples of application of these measures
- Normal and abnormal sexual physiology
- Basis of sexual response in women
- Hormone deficiency and replacement
- Drug treatment for sexual dysfunction
- Assessment of sexual offenders -risk of
re-offending - Comparison of high and low sexual risk-takers
18Studying the brainusing functional brain
Imaginge.g., PET andfMRI scanning
19Paris group -INSERMStoleru and colleaguese.g.
comparison of men with and without low sexual
desire disorder (2003)
20(No Transcript)
21What about the use of pornography in this
research?
221. Choose the images carefully to a) Suit the
specific research objective b) Be appropriate
for the subject (e.g. women v men)3. Insure the
subject is fully informed4. Protect privacy of
the research subject as far as possible (for both
ethical and scientific reasons)
23Scientific research into the psycho-biology of
human sexuality is important for public and
private health