Brom Mirte, Laan Ellen, Everaerd Walter, Spinhoven Philip, Trimbos Baptist, Both Stephanie
Leiden University, Institute of Psychology, Clinical Psychology Unit, Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Psychosomatic Gynaecology & Sexology, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Department of Sexology and Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Sex Med. 2016 Jan;13(1):105-19. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2015.11.003.
Emotion regulation research has shown successful altering of unwanted aversive emotional reactions. Cognitive strategies can also downregulate expectations of reward arising from conditioned stimuli, including sexual stimuli. However, little is known about whether such strategies can also efficiently upregulate expectations of sexual reward arising from conditioned stimuli, and possible gender differences therein.
The present study examined whether a cognitive upregulatory strategy could successfully upregulate sexual arousal elicited by sexual reward-conditioned cues in men and women.
Men (n = 40) and women (n = 53) participated in a study using a differential conditioning paradigm, with genital vibrostimulation as unconditioned stimulus (US) and sexually relevant pictures as conditional stimuli.
Penile circumference and vaginal pulse amplitude were assessed and ratings of US expectancy, affective value, and sexual arousal value were obtained. Also a stimulus response compatibility task was included to assess automatic approach and avoidance tendencies.
Evidence was found for emotion upregulation to increase genital arousal response in the acquisition phase in both sexes, and to enhance resistance to extinction of conditioned genital responding in women. In men, the emotion upregulatory strategy resulted in increased conditioned positive affect.
The findings support that top-down modulation may indeed influence conditioned sexual responses. This knowledge may have implications for treating disturbances in sexual appetitive responses, such as low sexual arousal and desire.
情绪调节研究表明，人们能够成功改变不良的厌恶情绪反应。认知策略还可以下调由条件刺激（包括性刺激）产生的奖励预期。然而，对于这些策略是否也能有效上调由条件刺激产生的性奖励预期，以及其中可能存在的性别差异，人们知之甚少。
本研究考察了一种认知上调策略是否能成功上调男性和女性中由性奖励条件线索引发的性唤起。
男性（n = 40）和女性（n = 53）参与了一项使用差异条件作用范式的研究，以生殖器振动刺激作为无条件刺激（US），以与性相关的图片作为条件刺激。
评估阴茎周长和阴道脉搏振幅，并获取对无条件刺激预期、情感价值和性唤起价值的评分。还纳入了一项刺激-反应兼容性任务，以评估自动趋近和回避倾向。
有证据表明，情绪上调在两性的习得阶段会增加生殖器唤起反应，并且在女性中会增强对条件性生殖器反应消退的抵抗力。在男性中，情绪上调策略导致条件性积极情感增加。
研究结果支持自上而下的调节可能确实会影响条件性性反应。这一知识可能对治疗性欲望反应中的障碍，如低性唤起和性欲，具有启示意义。
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