ABSTRACT
Sexual behavior is considered to be one of the most important forms of goal-directed behaviors necessary for the long-term survival of any species. In all animals, there are three distinct phases of sexual behavior in which the brain plays an essential role: (i) an appetitive phase, which serves to bring animals and humans into contact with sexual incentives, (ii) a precopulatory phase, consisting of solicitation and courtship behavior, and (iii) a consummatory phase, comprised of copulatory responses (1,2). In humans, sexual desire and arousal (SDA) may be further categorized into a series of distinct cognitive, motivational, emotional, and autonomic components (3). Although animal studies have facilitated the identification of key cerebral areas involved in animal sexual behavior, these experiments still cannot explain the features of sexual behavior uniquely developed in humans, such as the cognitive aspects of SDA (2). Although neuropsychological and neurological studies have been of great importance in elucidating the cerebral basis of human sexual motivation, their essential focus on pathological conditions has resulted in only a partial understanding of the normal physiologic brain processes underlying SDA (4,5). For further information on these processes, see Chapter 3.
