Introduction The literature provides a complex picture of sexual satisfaction and its predictors. To date, studies have provided a list of predictors of sexual satisfaction, including relational and psychological factors, but very little information is available on the direct effects of these predictors in midlife women, independently from the effects of sexual function on sexual satisfaction. Aim The main aim of this article is to provide empirical evidence on factors that predict sexual satisfaction in middle-aged women above and beyond the explanation provided by sexual function. Main Outcome Measures The three items on sexual satisfaction from the Female Sexual Functioning Index were used to assess different aspects of sexual satisfaction. Methods A sample of 86 women age 40–70 years recruited from a clinic completed a battery of questionnaires on sexual satisfaction and potential predictors, including, psychological well-being, body attitudes, menopausal symptoms, and relationship adjustment. Results Relationship adjustment, psychological well-being, and menopausal symptoms predicted sexual satisfaction above and beyond sexual functioning. Body attitudes did not predict sexual satisfaction in midlife women. Conclusions Data supported the hypothesis that sexual satisfaction is only partially explained by sexual function. Other factors involved in women’s lives, such as psychological well-being, relationship adjustment, and, to a lesser extent, menopausal symptoms, affect sexual satisfaction independently from sexual function.

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Introduction Research suggests that there are three interrelated, yet distinct, emotion motivation brain systems for human love (lust, romantic love, and attachment), each associated with a unique catecholaminergic and hormonal profile. Of interest for the current study are norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA), which have a hypothesized connection with romantic love. As NE and DA are also known to facilitate sexual arousal, it is plausible that NE and DA may have a greater positive association with the sexual arousal responses of women in romantic love compared with women in lust. Aim This study investigated if the effects of NE and DA activity on sexual arousal responses would differ depending on emotion motivation state (Lust or Romantic). Main Outcome Measures Physiological sexual arousal was assessed by photoplethysmography and subjective sexual arousal was assessed with a participant controlled lever. Methods Seventeen women were included in the Lust group and 29 in the Romantic group. All participants provided a urine sample (to assess NE and DA) and completed a psychophysiological assessment. Results Elevated NE was positively and significantly associated with greater subjective and physiological sexual arousal for the Lust group, but not for the Romantic group. Similarly, elevated DA was positively and significantly associated with greater subjective sexual arousal for the Lust group, but not for the Romantic group. Conclusions The sexual arousal responses of women in the Lust group, but not in the Romantic group, were positively and significantly associated with elevated NE and DA. It is feasible that, when women are seeking a partner (Lust), NE and DA may facilitate attention toward sexually relevant stimuli.

In 2003, a group of approximately 30 experts and a handful of their students from several European and American countries held the first meeting exclusively dedicated to the discussion of sexual psychophysiology. The meeting of sexual psychophysiologists, sitting around a large circle of tables at the Kinsey Institute, provided the first opportunity for the researchers to openly discuss, criticize and add to each other's research. The consensus at the end of the session was unanimous; the meeting was a success and to provided a necessary step for the researchers in the field of sexual psychophysiology to integrate their research and to stimulate discussion on the methodological and theoretical directions for the future of the field. Janssen captured the excitement and the essence of the conference, distilling it into 527 pages under the title The Psychophysiology of Sex. The ability of the book to make the conference come alive for the reader lies in the wide variety of sources Janssen had access to. Unlike the special journal issues that typically cover conferences The Psychophysiology of Sex not only includes the papers presented at the conference, but also contains essays written by discussants that review and criticize the papers presented in each section. In addition, the book provides a verbatim recount of the open discussions of the researchers after each paper was verbally presented. Thanks to this format, readers feel like they are sitting next to Bancroft, Heiman, Geer, Everaerd and the others, and are therefore able to enjoy the stimulating exchanges and discussions that made the meeting particularly successful.The six topics discussed at the conference cover (1) the neurobiology of the sexual response, (2) theoretical perspectives, (3) learning processes and subjective experiences, (4) sexual motivation, (5) sexual function and dysfunction, and (6) gender, sexual orientation and paraphilia.It becomes evident starting from the first few papers on the neurobiology and the physiology of the sexual response (Part 1), that the field is still trying to gain a general understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying the sexual response. Gender differences in sexual responses remain unclear and the physiology of female sexuality is relatively mysterious compared to the more clearly delineated processes that regulate erection. The first section achieves a fine balance between Stolerau and Mouras' attempt to condense the literature on brain functioning into a comprehensible and meaningful story and Bancroft's careful discussion of conflicting results in such literature. An article that aims at providing a review of such a complex and intricate topic such as brain changes associated with the sexual response usually leaves the reader with either a too simplistic view of the topic, or the feeling that the results are too complicated and unintelligible. In this case, the integration of the review by Stolerau and Mouras and the discussion by Bancroft perfectly complement each other and leave the reader with a sense ...