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Female sexual arousal: a behavioral analysis
Mary Lake Polan1, John E Desmond, Linda L Banner
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5317, USA. polan@2stanford.edu
Fertility and Sterility
|December 12, 2003
Summary
Physiologic measures like respiration and vaginal blood flow, combined with video cues, predict female sexual arousal. Maximal arousal was reached within two minutes, irrespective of audio stimuli.
Area of Science:
- Physiology
- Psychology
- Human Sexuality
Background:
- Female sexual arousal is complex, involving physiological and psychological responses.
- Objective measurement of sexual arousal can be challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess female sexual arousal using combined physiological measures and self-reported arousal levels.
- To correlate physiological responses with specific video stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Twenty healthy women viewed erotic and relaxation tapes with and without sound.
- Physiological parameters (vaginal blood flow, respiration, pulse, galvanic skin resistance, blood pressure) and self-reported arousal were recorded.
- Data were correlated with video segments to identify arousal patterns.
Main Results:
- Respiration rate, vaginal pulse (VPP), and erotic video segments significantly predicted arousal.
- Faster respiration correlated with higher arousal.
- Maximal physiological and subjective arousal occurred within approximately two minutes.
- Auditory stimuli did not significantly enhance subjective arousal.
Conclusions:
- A combination of physiological measures and video event markers explains about 50% of the variance in subjective female sexual arousal.
- Young, sexually functional women reach maximal arousal within two minutes, regardless of audio presence.