Reproductive System & Sexual Disorders: Current Research
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The sexual response cycle consists of four phases: desire, arousal, orgasm, and resolution. Phase 1 of the sexual response cycle, desire, consists of three components: sexual drive, sexual motivation, and sexual wish. These reflect the biological, psychological, and social aspects of desire, respectively. Sexual drive is produced through psychoneuroendocrine mechanisms. The limbic system and the preoptic area of the anterior-medial hypothalamus are believed to play a role in sexual drive. Drive is also highly influenced by hormones, medications (e.g., decreased by antihypertensive drugs, increased by dopaminergic compounds to treat Parkinson’s disease), and legal and illegal substances