Open AccessThe structure of the amygdala associates with human sexual permissiveness: Evidence from voxel‐based morphometry
Author(s) -
Takeuchi Hikaru,
Taki Yasuyuki,
Nouchi Rui,
Hashizume Hiroshi,
Sekiguchi Atsushi,
Kotozaki Yuka,
Nakagawa Seishu,
Miyauchi Carlos Makoto,
Sassa Yuko,
Kawashima Ryuta
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.22638
Subject(s) - permissiveness , amygdala , psychology , voxel based morphometry , white matter , human brain , neural correlates of consciousness , brain mapping , voxel , neuroscience , developmental psychology , cognition , biology , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , genetics , radiology , viral replication , cell culture
Sexual behavior is a critical function of human procreation. Despite previous studies that investigated the neural mechanisms of basic human physiological sexual functions, the neural mechanisms that underlie individual differences in human sexual permissiveness remain unknown. We used voxel‐based morphometry and a questionnaire (scale for sexual attitudes) to measure sexual permissiveness to investigate the gray matter and white matter structural correlates of sexual permissiveness. Sexual permissiveness was negatively correlated with regional gray matter density of the structures involving the right amygdala and surrounding areas, and positively correlated with regional white matter density of the white matter area that spread around the left amygdala to the hypothalamus area. There were no gender‐specific relationships in the neural correlates of our findings. These findings suggest that structural variations in regions that play key roles in the basic physiological aspects of human sexuality underlie individual complex sexual attitudes in social life. Hum Brain Mapp 36:440–448, 2015 . © 2014 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.