The Brain in Love: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life (34 page)

Is the use of brain-SPECT imaging accepted in the medical community?
Brain-SPECT studies are widely recognized as an effective tool for evaluating brain function in seizures, strokes, dementia, and head trauma. There are literally hundreds of research articles on these topics. In our clinic, based on our experience for over a decade, we have developed this technology further to evaluate aggression and nonresponsive psychiatric conditions. Unfortunately, many physicians do not fully understand the application of SPECT imaging and may tell you that the technology is experimental, but more than a thousand physicians and mental health professionals in the United States have referred patients to us for scans.

1
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Journal of Nuclear Medicine
1992; 33:1888–1904.

2
. Amen, D.
Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry
, edited by Kaplan and Sadock, Neuroimaging Chapter, 2000.

3
. Bonte F. J., M. F. Weiner, E. H. Bigio, and C. L. White. “Brain Blood Flow in the Dementias:” SPECT with Histopathologic Correlation in 54 Patients.”
Radiology
1997; 202:793–797.

4
. George, M. S.
Neuroactivation and Neuroimaging with SPECT
. (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1991).

5
. Report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology: Assessment of Brain SPECT 1996; 46: 278–285.

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Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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http://www.alasbimnjournal.cl/revistas/3/villanuevaa.htm
.

Glossary

Acetylcholine (ACh)
—a neurotransmitter involved with memory formation, mostly excitatory, that has been implicated in problems with muscles, Alzheimer’s disease, and learning problems.

Amygdala
—found on the front, inside aspect of the temporal lobes, part of the limbic or emotional system of the brain, is involved with tagging emotional valences to experiences or events.

Anterior cingulate gyrus
—runs lengthwise through the frontal lobes, brain’s gear shifter, helping with cognitive flexibility.

Antioxidants
—help to prevent damage from free radical formation.

Axon
—usually a long process that projects from the cell body to connect with other cells.

Basal ganglia
—large structures deep in the brain involved with motor movements, anxiety, and pleasure.

Central nervous system
(CNS)—composed of the spinal cord and parts of the brain, brain stem, thalamus, basal ganglia, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex.

Deep limbic system
—deep structures in the brain that influence emotional responsiveness.

Dendrites
—structures that branch out from the cell body and serve as the main receivers of signals from other nerve cells, functioning as the “antennae” of the neuron.

Dopamine (DA)
—a neurotransmitter involved with attention, motor movements, and motivation, has been implicated in problems with Parkinson’s disease, attention deficit disorder, addictions, depression, and schizophrenia.

Estrogen
—a female hormone of reproduction.

fMRI
—a brain scan that uses powerful magnets to look at brain blood flow and activity patterns.

Free radicals
—oxygen combined with other molecules to generate highly toxic substances that must be neutralized by antioxidants, or they damage cells.

G-spot
—a controversial area of the brain on the front wall of the vagina, underneath the clitoris, thought to be extremely sensitive to touch and involved in intense pleasure and orgasm.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
—an inhibitory neurotransmitter involved with calming brain function, has been implicated in problems with seizures, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and pain.

Ginkgo biloba
—an herb from the Chinese ginkgo tree that is known to improve circulation and blood flow and has been shown to be helpful in dementia.

Glutamate
—excitatory (stimulating) neurotransmitter.

Hippocampus
—part of the inside of the temporal lobes that facilitates memory function.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
—a brain scan that uses powerful magnets to look at the physical structure of organs.

Myelin
—the whitish protein covering of neurons.

Myelination
—the act of laying down myelin onto neurons.

Nerve growth factors (NGF)
—one of several growth factors in the brain that promote the regeneration of nerve cells after injury.

Neurogenesis
—the growth of new neurons.

Neuron
—synonymous with nerve cell.

Neurotransmitter
—a chemical that is released from one neuron at the pre-synaptic nerve terminal (the end of an axon), across the synapse where they may be accepted by the next neuron (on the dendrites) at specialized sites called receptors. There are many different neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.

Norepinephrine (NE)
—a neurotransmitter involved with mood, concentration, and motivation and thought to be associated with problems of attention, depression, and anxiety.

Occipital lobes
—visual cortex in the back of the brain.

Oxytocin
—a hormone involved with bonding.

Parietal lobes
—top, back part of the brain involved with sensory processing, visual processing, seeing movement, and direction sense.

Positron emission tomography (PET)
—a brain scan that uses isotopes to look at glucose metabolism and activity patterns in the brain.

Prefrontal cortex
—front third of the brain, responsible for executive functions such as forethought and judgment.

Progesterone
—a hormone of reproduction.

Serotonin (5-HT)
—a neurotransmitter involved with mood, flexibility, and shifting attention, is often involved with problems of depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, sleep disturbances, and pain.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
—a brain scan that uses isotopes to look at blood flow and activity patterns in the brain.

Synapses
—junctions formed between nerve cells where the presynaptic terminal of an axon comes into “contact” with the dendrite’s postsynaptic membrane of another neuron. There are two types of synapses, electrical and chemical.

Synaptic plasticity
—the ability of synapses to change to more efficiently signal other neurons.

Temporal lobes
—underneath the temples and behind the eyes, large structures involved in memory, auditory processing, mood stability, and temper control.

Testosterone
—a hormone of reproduction.

References and Further Reading

Abramov, L. A., “Sexual Life and Sexual Frigidity Among Women Developing Acute Myocardial Infarction,”
Psychosomatic Medicine
38 no. 6 (1976): 418–25.

Addis, M., and J. Mahalik, “Men, Masculinity, and the Contexts of Help Seeking,”
American Psychologist
58 no. 1 (2003): 5–14.

Aharon I., et al., “Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value: fMRI and Behavioral Evidence,”
Neuron
32 (2001): 537–51.

Ainsworth, M.D.S., et al.,
Matters of Attachment: Assessed in the Strange Situation and the Home
. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1978.

Allen, J. S., J. Bruss, and H. Damasio, “The Aging Brain: The Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis and Hominid Evolution,”
American Journal of Human Biology
17 (2005): 673–89.

Angier, Natalie,
Women: An Intimate Geography
(New York: Anchor Books, 2000). Arnow, B., et al., “Brain Activation and Sexual Arousal in Healthy, Heterosexual Males,”
Brain
125 (2002): 1014–23.

Aron, A., et al., “Reward, Motivation, and Emotion Systems Associated with Early-Stage Intense Romantic Love,”
Journal of Neurophysiology
94, 327–37.

Azari, N., and D. Birnbacher, “The Role of Cognition and Feeling in Religious Experience,”
Zygon
39 no. 4 (2004): 901–17.

Azari, N., et al., “Neural Correlates of Religious Experience,”
European Journal of Neuroscience
13, (2001): 1649–52.

Bagley, Christopher, and Pierre Tremblay, “Suicidal Behaviors in Homosexual and Bisexual Males,”
Crisis
18 no. 1 (1997): 24–34.

Bancroft, J., “The Endocrinology of Sexual Arousal,”
Journal of Endocrinology
186 (2005): 411–27.

Bartels, A., and S. Zeki, “The Neural Basis of Romantic Love,”
Neuro-report
11 (2000): 3829–34.

Bartels, A., and S. Zeki, “The Neural Correlates of Romantic Love,”
Neuro-Image
21 (2004): 1155–66.

Beatson, J., and S. Taryan, “Predisposition to Depression: The Role of Attachment,”
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
37 (2003): 219–25.

Begley, S., and A. Underwood, “Religion and the Brain,”
Newsweek
137 no. 19 (2001).

Berns, G. S., et al., “Predictability Modulates Human Brain Response to Reward,”
Journal of Neuroscience
21 (2001): 2793–98.

Bonanno, G. “Loss, Trauma, and Human Resilience, Have We Underestimated the Human Capacity to Thrive After Extremely Aversive Events?”
American Psychologist
59 no. 1 (2004): 20–28.

Booth, Alan, et al., “Testosterone and Men’s Health,”
Journal of Behavioral Medicine
22 no. 1 (1999): 1–19.

Bowlby, J. “Loss: Sadness and Depression,”
Attachment and Loss
, vol. III, (New York: Basic Books, 1980).

Brunckhorst, C. B., et al., “Stress, Depression and Cardiac Arrhythmias,”
Ther Umsch
, 60 no. 11, 673–81.

Bullough, Vern L.,
Science in the Bedroom: A History of Sex Research
(New York: Basic Books, 1994).

Burleson, Mary H., et al., “Heterosexual Activity and Cycle Length Variability: Effect of Gynecological Maturity,”
Physiology & Behavior
50 (1991): 863–66.

Catania, Joseph A., and Charles B. White, “Sexuality in an Aged Sample: Cognitive Determinants of Masturbation,”
Archives of Sexual Behavior
11 no. 3 (1982): 237–45.

Charnetski, Carl J., and Francis X. Brennan,
Feeling Good Is Good for You: How Pleasure Can Boost Your Immune System and Lengthen Your Life
(Emmaus: Rodale Press, 2001).

Chockalingham, A., et al., “Estimation of Subjective Stress in Acute Myocardial Infarction,”
Journal of Postgraduate Medicine
355 (2000): 1969–70.

Chockalingham, A., et al., “Estimation of Subjective Stress in Acute Myocardial Infarction,”
Journal of Postgraduate Medicine
49 (2003): 207–10.

Chuang, Y. C., et al., “Tooth Brushing with Ictal Orgasms,”
Seizure
13 no. 3 (2004): 179–82.

Clymer, Adam, “U.S. Revises Sex Information, and a Fight Goes On,”
New York Times
, December 27, 2002, A17.

Coffey, C. E., et al., “Relation of Education to Brain Size in Normal Aging,”
Neurology
53 no. 1 (1999).

Coleman, Eli, “Masturbation as a Means of Achieving Sexual Health,”
Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality
14 no. 2/3 (2002): 5–16.

Curtis, Margaret, “Paradise Found? Hot Flash on the G-Spot,”
Mademoiselle
, January 1989: 64.

Cutler, Winnifred B.,
Love Cycles: The Science of Intimacy
(New York: Villard Books, 1991).

Cutler, W. B., E. Friedmann, and N. L. McCoy, “Coitus and Menstruation in Perimenopausal Women,”
Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrical Gynaecology
17 no. 3 (1996): 149–57.