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시각적으로 유발된 성적흥분에 의한 대뇌 변연계의 활성화: 기능적 자기 공명 영상법
알 수 없는 사용자
2007. 2. 11. 02:15
Journal of the Korean Radiological Society 2004 ; 51 (2) : p.157-163
Cerebral Activation Associated with Visually Evoked Sexual Arousal in the Limbic System: Functional MR Imaging
Sung-Jong Eun Gwang-Woo Jeong, Ph.D., Hyung-Joong Kim, M.D., Jeong-Jin Seo, M.D., Heoung-Keun Kang, M.D., Ki-Hyun Cho, M.D., Ka-Hyun Yoon, Ph.D.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chonnam National University
Purpose: To identify the brain centers associated with visually evoked sexual arousal in the human brain, and to investigate the neural mechanism for sexual arousal using functional MRI (fMRI).
Materials and Methods: A total of 20 sexually potent volunteers consisting of 10 males (mean age: 24) and 10 females (mean age: 23) underwent fMRI on a 1.5 T MR scanner (GE Signa Horizon). The fMRI data were obtained from 7 slices (10 mm slice thickness) parallel to the AC-PC (anterior commissure and posterior commissure) line, giving a total of 511 MR images. The sexual stimulation consisted of a 1-minute rest with black screen, followed by a 4-minute stimulation by an erotic video film, and concluded with a 2-minute rest. The brain activation maps and their quantification were analyzed by the statistical parametric mapping (SPM 99) program.
Results: The brain activation regions associated with visual sexual arousal in the limbic system are the posterior cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, hypothalamus, medial cingulate gyrus, thalamus, amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, hippocampus, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus and putamen. Especially, the parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, thalamus and hypothalamus were highly activated in comparison with other areas. The overall activities of the limbic lobe, diencephalon, and basal ganglia were 11.8%, 10.5%, and 3.4%, respectively. In the correlation test between brain activity and sexual arousal, the hypothalamus and thalamus showed positive correlation, but the other brain areas showed no correlation.
Conclusion: The fMRI is useful to quantitatively evaluate the cerebral activation associated with visually evoked, sexual arousal in the human brain. This result may be helpful by providing clinically valuable information on sexual disorder in humans as well as by increasing the understanding of the neuroanatomical correlates of sexual arousal.
Keyword : Brain, function, Brain, MR