3.5. Eating, Sex and Other Needs
3.5. Eating, Sex and Other Needs
Psychology Erasmus University
Summary written by Amy van Wingerde
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,3.5. Eating, Sex and Other Needs
Week 3
Sources
1. Bancroft (2009), Hock et al. (2014)
2a. Stephenson et al. (2013)
2b. Haning et al. (2007), Kontula et al. (2016)
3. Kraus et al. (2016)
Bancroft (2009) – Chapter 4. Sexual arousal and response – the psychosomatic circle, in Bancroft
Information processing: Response to sexual stimuli, cognitive mechanisms and the relevance of
mood
Response to sexual stimuli
- Experimental literature showed that many men and women can produce genital responses
at will, usually by concentrating on sexual thoughts or fantasies.
- Also, many men and women respond to non-tactile external erotic stimuli in laboratory
settings.
- Men can also voluntarily inhibit erections in response to such stimuli.
- Research on the psychophysiological effects of such stimuli.
Visual stimuli
- Among the most important in the elicitation of sexual interest, desire, and arousal.
- Most used in psychophysiological studies.
- In men, moving erotic stimuli are more eliciting than non-moving erotic stimuli, so how does
this information processing work?
- What constitutes sexual attractiveness in terms of visual appearance is complex and reflects
different criteria for men and women.
Non-visual stimuli
Smell
- Olfactory stimuli are important in the sexual behavior of non-human mammals.
- Most used term is ‘pheromone’ (= secreted chemical factor that triggers a social
response in members of the same species).
- Two types of olfactory effect must be considered:
Olfactory priming: Olfactory stimulus has some gradual effect on the
physiology of the recipient over time, e.g., the alteration of the timing of the
menstruation.
Olfactory signaling: Olfactory stimuli have an immediate effect on the
behavior of the recipient, e.g., vaginal odors signal that the female is oestrus
and thus attractive.
, 3.5. Eating, Sex and Other Needs
- Question is how relevant these mechanisms are in humans.
- Most mammals have a dual olfactory system.
- One originates from the olfactory bulbs and communicate with the cortex.
- Other starts at the vomeronasal organ and communicates via the vomeronasal
nerve with the limbic system.
- Vomeronasal system has been found in humans, but its functionality is unknown.
- Some evidence that human females synchronize their menstrual cycles with one another,
presumably via olfactory priming.
- Sleeping with a male partner also increases the incidence of ovulation, probably an effect of
axillary odors from the male.
- Study: Applying male axillary secretions to women makes their menstrual cycles
more regular.
- Signaling pheromones play an important role in primate sexual behavior, especially vaginal
odors.
- These odors signal the men that the woman is oestrus, receptive, and hence
attractive.
- However, one a woman is identified as attractive, these odors are not necessary for
sexual activity to be maintained.
- These responses are not stereotypical and vary from male to male and are mostly
the result of learning, so not an innately programmed response.
- Evidence suggests that, for some people, olfactory cues are extremely important, not only in
initial attraction to a sexual partner but also in the maintenance of a stable relationship.
- We don’t know the proportion of people who have this or sex differences.
- Some evidence of maximal sensitivity to olfactory stimuli around ovulation.
- More research is needed.
Touch
- Dramatic changes in erotic tactile sensitivity of the genitalia during vasocongestive
responses such as penile erection or labial engorgement.
- Particularly in the skin of the vulvar region, the relevant mechanisms are not well
understood and may be highly complex.
- In animals, sectioning of the dorsal nerve of the penis, which supplies much of the
sensory area of the penis, appears to prevent erection and ejaculation.
- In humans, peripheral nerve damage affects the genitalia (e.g., multiple sclerosis)
where loss of sensation may contribute to erectile failure.
- Erotic touch is not confined to the genitalia.
Input of sensory stimulation from the periphery has to be processed
centrally and can be substantially influenced at this stage.
Unexplained phenomenon occurs with people with transection of the spinal
cord: Skin region just above the level of sensory loss develops an erotic
sensitivity that it did not previously possess, so reorganization of the
perception of tactile stimuli took place.
Central processes can influence whether genital stimulation is perceived as
erotic.
In erotic anesthesia, it is probably the case that inhibition of erotic sensory
input or a failure to reduce inhibitory control are taking place at some
central level in the cord or above.
