Assessment of Brain Metabolites Change during Visual Sexual Stimulation in Healthy Women Using Functional MR Spectroscopy

作者：Kim Tae Hoon; Kang Heoung Keun; Jeong Gwang Woo^*

来源：The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2013, 10(4): 1001-1011.

DOI：10.1111/jsm.12057

• Brain Metabolites
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (fMRS)
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• Visual Stimulation
• Sexual Arousal
• Brain Centers Associated with Sexual Arousal

Introduction Numerous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies demonstrated the key brain areas associated with visual sexual arousal. However, the changes in brain metabolites involved in sexual stimuli have not been reported. Aim This study utilized functional MR spectroscopy (fMRS) to evaluate the changes in brain metabolites associated with sexual arousal induced by stimulation with erotic video clips in healthy women. Methods Twenty-three healthy, right-handed women (38.4 +/- 10.0years) participated in 1H-fMRS and fMRI studies. T1 and T2 MR images were used for voxel localization of the anterior cingulate gyrus, which is one of the most important key centers associated with sexual arousal. Main Outcome Measures The changes of brain metabolites were measured using 1H-fMRS during time-course activation: before, during, and after visual sexual stimulation. The time-course variation of the brain metabolites was analyzed by the repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results The CVmean of all the metabolites had %26lt;30% (range, 929%). The ICCs of -glutamine-glutamate (Glx), choline (Cho), center dot-Glx, N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and lactate (Lac) all exceeded 0.6. However, myo-inositol (mI) and lipid (Lip) were %26lt;0.6. The concentration of brain metabolites including -Glx, center dot-Glx, Cho, and Lac comparatively increased significantly during visual sexual stimulation. Conclusions 1H-fMRS, for the first time, was applied to assess the brain metabolic changes during visually-evoked sexual arousal. The fMRS outcomes in relation to functional MRI data will be useful to understand the neural mechanism associated with sexual arousal. Kim T-H, Kang H-K, and Jeong G-W. Assessment of brain metabolites change during visual sexual stimulation in healthy women using functional MR spectroscopy. J Sex Med 2013; 10: 1001-1011.

• 出版日期2013-4
• 单位河北医科大学