Visual Erotica, EMG, and Sexual Psychophysiological Arousal (VESPA)

Overview

This study will examine whether measurement of pelvic floor muscle sEMG activity is responsive to explicit sexual stimuli, and whether it correlates with self-reports of sexual arousal in healthy women. Participants' vaginal, labial and anal sEMG readings will be monitored during exposure to neutral, erotic and anxiety-provoking films. Participants will also be required to provide subjective ratings of sexual arousal before and after each film. If pelvic floor sEMG is validated as a psychophysiological measure, these findings may have important clinical and research implications by providing a greater understanding of the mechanisms involved in sexual arousal and for providing a relatively easy method of assessing sexual arousal in a clinical or research setting.

HYPOTHESES: 1. Investigators hypothesize that, relative to the neutral films, PFM EMG activity will significantly increase in response to the erotic film as measured by the labial, anal, and vaginal EMG probes. 2. Investigators hypothesize that, relative to the anxiety-provoking film, PFM EMG activity will significantly increase in response to the erotic film as measured by the labial, anal, and vaginal EMG probes. 3. Investigators hypothesize that continuously measured subjective sexual arousal (via the arousometer) will correlate significantly with PFM EMG activity during the erotic film.

Conditions

Eligibility