Reading the Freudian theory of sexual drives from a functional neuroimaging perspective.
Frontiers in human neuroscience January 1, 2014 Serge Stoléru 24 citations
Sexual drives have four defining features—pressure, aim, object, and source—as described by Freud. Functional neuroimaging studies of sexual arousal reveal neural correlates for these features, largely supporting the Freudian model. However, a key difference emerges regarding the source of drives: psychoanalysis views the source as peripheral excitation, but neuroimaging suggests that in adults, central brain processing of visual or genital stimuli, rather than peripheral processes, determines sexually arousing and pleasurable experiences. Based on these findings, possible refinements to psychoanalytic theory are proposed.