Scientists at Stanford University believe that they now have proof that hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD, is largely affected by brain activity. The team, comprised of researchers from a variety of disciplines, began the research with the aim of discovering how big a role the brain played in a lack of female sexual desire.
They compared the brain activity of women suffering from HSDD to those who did not have it, studying in total 36 women, all who identified as heterosexual. They showed participants erotic video clips interspersed with footage of women-only sporting events. The sections were spilt up by tranquil montages of flowers, waves and other images to put the women’s brains into a resting state.
They discovered that while generally brain activity was more or less identical between the two groups; there were a few notable exceptions. They found amongst women with HSDD there was a bigger jump in certain areas of the brain while there was less activity in another part. Knowing which area s of the brain showed a specifically different reaction has lead the scientists to the conclusion that having an increased attention to one’s own responses to erotic stimuli plays a part in sexual dysfunction. The scientists noticed decreased responses in the entorhinal cortex, which may be linked to the discovery that women not suffering from HSDD are better able to retain emotional memories relating to sexual events.
The study has provided an interesting insight into the emotional and behavioural element to HSDD. Leah Millheiser, a specialist in female sexual health at Stanford, believes that the research may lead to better treatment of the condition. She said, “The results of this study provide yet another valuable tool for understanding the complexity of female sexual function as it relates to desire. The next step is to translate this information into the clinical realm, specifically as it relates to cognitive and pharmacotherapeutic approaches”.