sexual arousal

Examples of sexual arousal in the following topics:

• Male Sexual Response

  • As sexual arousal and stimulation continues, the glans of the erect penis will swell wider.
  • Some men older than age 40 report that they do not always have an erection when sexually aroused.
  • A young man or one with a strong sexual drive may experience enough sexual arousal for an erection with a passing thought or just the sight of a passerby.
  • Several hormones affect sexual arousal, including testosterone, cortisol, and estradiol.
  • Testosterone is the most commonly-studied hormone involved with sexuality, and it plays a key role in sexual arousal in males, with strong effects on central arousal mechanisms.

• Female Sexual Response

  • Sexual arousal is caused by sexual desire during or in anticipation of sexual activity.
  • Reduced estrogen levels may be associated with increased vaginal dryness and less clitoral erection when aroused, but are not directly related to other aspects of sexual interest or arousal.
  • Mental and physical stimuli such as touch and the internal fluctuation of hormones influence sexual arousal.
  • Cognitive factors like sexual motivation, perceived gender role expectations, and sexual attitudes play important roles in women’s self-reported levels of sexual arousal.
  • Basson suggests that women’s need for intimacy prompts them to engage with sexual stimuli, leading to an experience of sexual desire and psychological sexual arousal.

• Autonomic Reflexes

  • The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal.
  • Everyday examples include breathing, swallowing, and sexual arousal, and in some cases functions such as heart rate.
  • A more modern characterization is that the sympathetic nervous system is a quick- response, mobilizing system and the parasympathetic is a more slowly activated, dampening system—but there are exceptions, such as in sexual arousal and orgasm where both play a role.

• Comparing the Somatic and Autonomic Nervous Systems

  • Examples of body processes controlled by the ANS include heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, urination, and sexual arousal.
  • The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal.

• Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

  • The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal.
  • The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal.

• Vagina

  • During arousal, the vagina gets moist to facilitate the entrance of the penis.
  • The absence of a hymen may not indicate prior sexual activity.
  • The vagina's primary functions are sexual arousal and intercourse as well as childbirth.
  • During sexual arousal, and particularly clitoral stimulation, the vaginal walls lubricate to reduce friction caused by sexual activity.
  • As the woman becomes fully aroused, the vagina tents (expands in length and width), while the cervix retracts.

• Parasympathetic Responses

  • Its roles include stimulation of rest-and-digest activities that occur when the body is at rest, including sexual arousal, salivation, lacrimation (tears), urination, digestion, and defecation.

• The Fight-or-Flight Response

  • The stress response halts or slows down various processes, such as sexual responses and digestive systems, to focus on the stressor situation.
  • This typically causes negative effects like constipation, anorexia, erectile dysfunction, difficulty urinating, and difficulty maintaining sexual arousal.
  • These are functions that are controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system and are therefore suppressed by sympathetic arousal.

• Autonomic Interactions

  • The SNS promotes a fight-or-flight response, corresponds with arousal and energy generation, and performs the following functions:

• Premature Ejaculation

  • Premature ejaculation is a medical condition where a man engaged in sexual intercourse ejaculates earlier than he would like to.
  • While men sometimes underestimate the relationship between sexual performance and emotional well-being, premature ejaculation can be caused by temporary depression, stress over financial matters, unrealistic expectations about performance, a history of sexual repression, or an overall lack of confidence.
  • Neurological premature ejaculation can also lead to other forms of sexual dysfunction, or intensify the existing problem, by creating performance anxiety.
  • In a less pathological context, premature ejaculation could also be caused simply by extreme arousal.
  • For example, males who are lower in the social hierarchy, especially among troupe primates such as chimpanzees, have little sexual access to females due to dominant males.