Couples whose sex life is in trouble can hope for a solution.
A hormone thought to help women feel less insecure about sex changes their brain’s response to erotica.
The “Viagra of the mind” can even help women find their men more attractive.
In men, the same hormone, aptly named kisspeptin, is now thought to reduce brooding and stage fright in the bedroom.
Researchers saw a significant increase in erectile function in men with low libido who received the drug.
Researchers conducted the study for people with low sex drives who were dissatisfied with their low libido. Doctors call this hypoactive sexual desire disorder, and it affects up to 10 percent of women and 8 percent of men.
British researchers led the studies of Kisspeptin for people with low sex drive that cannot be explained by physical or mental health problems and who are dissatisfied with their low libido.
This problem, which doctors call hypoactive sexual desire disorder, affects up to 10 percent of women and 8 percent of men.
Dr Alexander Comninos, senior author of the study from Imperial College London, said: “The pattern of brain activity we saw suggests that kisspeptin may prevent people from thinking about sex and sexual arousal.
“Ultimately, the brain plays a central role in coordinating sexual desire.
“We hope that as research progresses, Kisspeptin-based treatments could be available in the UK within five to ten years.”
Discovered in 1996 by scientists in Hershey, Philadelphia, kisspeptin is named after Hershey’s Kisses, the milk chocolate treats made by a city-based company.
The researchers gave 32 women an infusion of Kisspeptin through an IV in their arm and, at another time, an IV of pure saline for comparison, which had no effect on their sexual desire.
On Kisspeptin, women reported feeling “sexy,” having less activity in a frontal brain region associated with negative, distracting thoughts, and more activity in a brain region associated with sexual arousal when watching the videos
The women’s brain activity was monitored by an MRI scan while they watched short erotic videos compared to non-sexual exercise videos.
On Kisspeptin, women reported feeling “sexy,” having less activity in a frontal brain region associated with distracting negative thoughts, and more activity in a brain region associated with sexual arousal when watching the videos.
When asked to look at pictures of men’s faces, they showed more activity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) – a part of the brain previously associated with romantic emotions – and separate brain activity associated with more positive judgment about other people.
This raises hope that women who use Kisspeptin will find their men more attractive and want to have sex with them more.
In fact, women with more PCC activity showed less sex aversion when asked how much sex made them feel disgusted, cold, disinterested, and anxious, among other things.
Women who took Kisspeptin showed less activity in an area of the brain that made them feel insecure about their bodies when looking at the images.
In the separate study of 32 men who received Kisspeptin, brain activity in men after taking the hormone suggested that they paid more visual attention to pornography and were less self-conscious, which may mean that stage fright is less of a problem.
Women with more activity in the PCC showed less aversion to sex when asked how much sex made them feel disgusted, cold, disinterested and anxious, among other things. In the separate study of 32 men given Kisspeptin, brain activity in men after taking the hormone suggested they paid more visual attention to pornography and were less self-conscious.
The male study had direct evidence that Kisspeptin could increase men’s sex drive, as their penises were up to 56 percent harder while watching an erotic video after receiving the hormone.
The drug is a solution to the psychological causes of men’s bedroom problems, rather than simply stimulating blood flow to their genitals like Viagra.
There is currently no approved treatment in the UK for premenopausal women with bedroom problems.
Both studies were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Professor Waljit Dhillo, co-senior author of the Imperial College London study, said: “It is very encouraging to see the same stimulatory effects in women and men, although the exact brain pathways were slightly different than expected.”
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
