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Root Source – The Central Mechanisms of Sexual Function

The Central Mechanisms of Sexual Function

….”The hypothalamus plays an important role in regulating sexual behavior. This region of the brain links the nervous and endocrine systems and is involved in certain basic behaviors such as eating and aggression. A cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus called the

medial preoptic area (MPOA)

appears to play a critical role in sexual function and is being intensively studied at the moment. Group member François Guiliano and his colleagues have recently shown that electrical or chemical stimulation of the MPOA causes erections in rats. The MPOA appears to integrate stimuli from many areas of the brain, helping to organize and direct the complex patterns of sexual behavior. The hypothalamus also contains the paraventricular nucleus. Like the MPOA, the paraventricular nucleus acts as a processing center that sends and receives messages from different parts of the brain and spinal cord. The erection-enhancing effects of apomorphine occur when it mimics the actions of the neurotransmitter dopamine and binds to specific receptors in the paraventricular nucleus and the MPOA, thereby turning on proerectile pathways…

Preoptic area – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preoptic_area

… Functions

The preoptic area is responsible for

thermoregulation

and receives nervous stimulation from thermoreceptors in the skin, mucous membranes, and hypothalamus itself.[1]

This area propagates stimuli to either the heat-losing or the heat-promoting centers of the hypothalamus….