Neuroimaging of Female Sexual Desire and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder

Introduction: Recent advances in neuroimaging offer an unprecedented window into the female sexual brain. The small samples and poor statistical power of individual functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have limited what can be gleaned about the systematic brain network that is involved in female sexual desire and female sexual dysfunction (eg, hypoactive sexual desire disorder [HSDD]).

Aim: To quantitatively determine the brain network involved in HSDD.

Methods: Systematic retrospective review and statistical meta-analysis of pertinent neuroimaging literature.

Main outcome measures: Review of published literature on functional magnetic resonance imaging studies illustrating brain regions associated with female sexual desire and female HSDD.

Results: HSDD is associated with a specific fronto-limbic-parietal dysfunction characterized by (i) lower blood oxygen level-dependent responses in the sexual desire brain network and (ii) higher blood oxygen level-dependent responses in the self-referential brain network.

Conclusion: The meta-analytic results are in line with a top-down neurofunctional model of HSDD in which inspecting, monitoring, and evaluating oneself (rather than sensory experience) before or during sexual activities interfere with sexual desire. These results raise new questions regarding the necessity and sufficiency of dysfunctional activation in the sexual desire and self-referential brain networks, whose answers bear on the development and evaluation of personalized treatments for HSDD. Cacioppo S. Neuroimaging of Female Sexual Desire and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Sex Med Rev 2017;5:434-444.