The Psychopharmacology of Sex, Part 2: Effects of Drugs and Disease on the 3 Phases of Human Sexual Response

Article Abstract

Last month’s BRAINSTORMS provided a simplified formulation of the neuropharmacology of normal human sexual response: the initial phase is libido, or desire, linked to satisfaction with sex; the second phase is arousal of genital tissues, resulting in erections in men and genital lubrication and swelling in women; and the final phase is orgasm, accompanied by ejaculation in men. Compare and contrast this normal physiology with the disorders and drugs that affect all 3 phases of normal sexual response.