The worldwide popularity of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction (Conrad, 2005) speaks to the fact that sexual motivation and the ability to engage in sexual behavior can also be dissociated in humans.
In contrast, the amygdala and nucleus accumbens are involved in motivation for sexual behavior, but they do not affect the ability to engage in it.Īlthough human sexual behavior is much more complex than that seen in rats, some parallels between animals and humans can be drawn from this research. The medial preoptic area, an area of the hypothalamus, is involved in the ability to engage in sexual behavior, but it does not affect sexual motivation. Similar dissociations of sexual motivation and sexual ability have also been observed in the female rat (Becker, Rudick, & Jenkins, 2001 Jenkins & Becker, 2001). Damage to these areas results in a decreased motivation to engage in sexual behavior, while leaving the ability to do so intact ( Figure) (Everett, 1990). (credit: Jason Snyder)Īnimal research suggests that limbic system structures such as the amygdala and nucleus accumbens are especially important for sexual motivation. A male rat that cannot engage in sexual behavior still seeks receptive females, suggesting that the ability to engage in sexual behavior and the motivation to do so are mediated by different systems in the brain. This suggests that the ability to engage in sexual behavior and the motivation to do so may be mediated by neural systems distinct from one another.
Surprisingly, medial preoptic lesions do not change how hard a male rat is willing to work to gain access to a sexually receptive female ( Figure). In fact, lesions to an area of the hypothalamus called the medial preoptic area completely disrupt a male rat’s ability to engage in sexual behavior. As you’ve learned, the hypothalamus plays an important role in motivated behaviors, and sex is no exception. Much of what we know about the physiological mechanisms that underlie sexual behavior and motivation comes from animal research.
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