Forgetting the Joys of Sex

A new study suggests that women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder use more brainpower than sexually healthy women in monitoring their reactions and performance during sex.

A new study by the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), characterised by a continual lack of sexual interest or fantasies, use more brainpower than sexually healthy women in monitoring their reactions and performance during sex. Researchers tracked brain response to sexual stimuli in 16 HSDD women and 20 women who don’t suffer from the condition. Participants were shown clips of erotic films, women’s sporting events and relaxing nature scenes. In addition to the brain scans, the women subjectively rated their levels of arousal while an instrument objectively measured vaginal response. Many of the HSDD subjects spent their time monitoring their experience, or lack thereof: for example, ‘Should I be experiencing more arousal than I currently am?’ These women may be cheating themselves out of the ability to associate positive emotional memories with sex. The study’s recommendation: women should be ‘in the moment’: focus on the pleasure they are experiencing, not on what they ‘think’ they should be experiencing.