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Abstract:
In most vertebrate species, the presence of female sex
steroids is a prerequisite for the expression of female sexual
behavior. For humans, however, it is generally assumed that the
presence of testosterone is involved in female sexual desire and
motivation. An increase in vaginal vasocongestion response to
sexual stimuli may be part of the initiation phase of human female
sexual behavior. Here we examined if administration of a single
dosage of testosterone, as compared with a placebo, increases
vasocongestion during presentation of visual erotic stimuli. On
treatment days we exposed eight healthy female subjects with
intervals of an hour and a half, to six erotic films depicting
intercourse. The intake of testosterone caused a sharp increase in
plasma levels of testosterone of short duration. About four hours
after this testosterone peak, we found a striking increase in
vaginal responsiveness and subjective sexual arousal, when subjects
were exposed to the visual sexual stimuli. These results
demonstrate a time lag of about four hours with regard to several
indices of sexual functioning. The finding of this effect will have
wider methodological and theoretical implications for research on
the relationship between testosterone and human behavior.
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