Show Mind Body ody Link Unk Could be Key to Arousal By Jodi Compton College Press Exchange MINNEAPOLIS MINNEAPOLIS-A A womans woman's mind and body must work together to effect sexual arousal and response according to studies by a University of Minnesota researcher Its lIts a positive spiral your thoughts affect your body your body affects your thoughts said Eileen Palace a professor in the Department of Psychology In some respects the studies contradict contradict contradict con con- common beliefs about what arouses people Palace unlike many researchers chose to look at female not male sexual dysfunction Her studies examined women who had sexual dif- dif i These included low sexual desire low arousal or pain during sex and inability to achieve orgasm The studies found that a twofold approach general physiological stimulation plus increased mental expectation of arousal is successful successful successful success success- ful in increasing sexual response In the studies watching exciting but not erotic films gave the women a physiological jump ump These films were followed by films with sexual content The subjects' subjects heart rate respiration respiration respiration tion and other physiological responses es called caned sympathetic activity were monitored during the ments A sensor inserted in the vagina also measured blood volume An increased flow of blood to the vagina is an indicator of sexual arousal When we showed them these your seat kind of films the sympathetic activity enhanced rather than inhibited their sexual arousal Palace said This suggests that some of the techniques weve we've been using for the last 30 years may have been counterproductive Palace refers to methods based on the belief that relaxation not excitement excitement excitement excite excite- ment is conducive to arousal Masters and Johnson and others have said For sexual response you have to be relaxed They prescribed treatments that help you get relaxed during sex Palace explained In addition to general stimulation the women needed to believe they were capable of being aroused During experiments Palace showed some of the subjects charts which led the women to believe that they were demonstrating a higher level of sexual response than they actually were The belief they were becoming more aroused resulted in women actually increasing their responses sometimes within 30 seconds how fast your mind can affect your body body body- within 3 30 0 seconds youve you've changed your thinking and your body changes to match Palace said Palace said women need this feedback feedback feedback feed feed- back because they lack the cues that men have concerning their own sexual sexual sexual al arousal For men theres there's a really high correspondence between their minds and their bodies she said For example a mans man's erection provides proof of physical arousal Women lack these kinds of cues For women with poor sexual function scientific feedback may serve to provide provide provide pro pro- vide visible positive reinforcement in sexual therapy Palace has been studying female sexual functions for more than 1 10 0 years since she was a doctoral student student student stu stu- stu- stu dent at the University of British Columbia She came to the University of Minnesota in 1992 She teaches courses in hi human sexuality sexuality sexuality sex sex- which include a level course she developed herself Her University-funded University research is conducted conducted conducted con con- ducted in her Elliott Hall laboratory Palace conducts her research on a broad range of women not only University students Palace stresses the need for more research into women's sexual functioning Theres been a lot of research done on men Work on women is severely lacking she said Unfortunately in our society women dont don't put as much emphasis on their own bodies their own needs their own responses as men Palace hopes her research will wiIl help develop new treatments for women having sexual difficulties However she said her research has implications beyond the field of sexual therapy Understanding the mind-body mind link she said furthers understanding of many facets of heal health tho |