Sex on the brain

While it’s generally accepted by researchers that a woman’s sexual interest and partner preferences change throughout the course of her menstrual cycle, recent research is the first to indicate a difference in how a woman’s brain responds to visual stimuli depending on the time of menstruation. \nNew research by Heather Rupp, a postdoctoral student at the Kinsey Institute, may show that women are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior or to abuse drugs or alcohol during the time of ovulation in their menstrual cycles. \nRupp and her colleagues presented research supporting the hypothesis that hormones influence the way women process sexual stimuli in November 2007 at the Society of Neuroscience conference in San DiegThese attitude fluctuations may play a role in how the menstrual cycle affects a woman’s level of arousal, and may influence subsequent sexual behavior, according to Rupp’s research.\nRupp’s study consisted of 12 heterosexual women between the ages of 23 and 28 who were not taking hormonal contraceptives. These women came in for testing around ovulation – days 10 through 12 of the menstrual cycle – and later during the luteal phase of menstruation – days 19 through 23.