Increase in cerebral blood flow of right prefrontal cortex in man during orgasm.

The functional anatomy of human emotional responses has remained poorly understood, mainly because invasive experiments in humans are unacceptable due to ethical reasons. The new functional imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography have made it possible to study the neurophysiology of living humans noninvasively. We studied the regional cerebral blood flow with semi-quantitative 99mTc-HMPAO single photon emission computed tomography in eight healthy right-handed heterosexual males during organism. The results showed decrease of cerebral blood flow during orgasm in all other cortical areas except in right prefrontal cortex, where the cerebral blood flow increased significantly (P < 0.005).