Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 170, Issue 2, 11 April 1994, Pages 241-243
Neuroscience Letters

Increase in cerebral blood flow of right prefrontal cortex in man during orgasm

https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3940(94)90328-XGet rights and content

Abstract

The functional anatomy of human emotional responses has remained poorly understood, mainly because invasive experiments in humans are unacceptable due to ethical reasons. The new functional imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography have made it possible to study the neurophysiology of living humans non-invasively. We studied the regional cerebral blood flow with semi-quantitative 99mTC-HMPAO single photon emission computed tomography in eight healthy right-handed heterosexual males during orgasm. The results showed decrease of cerebral blood flow during orgasm in all other cortical areas except in right prefrontal cortex, where the cerebral blood flow increased significantly (P < 0.005).

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