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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday October 21 2018, @02:19PM   Printer-friendly

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

In a new study, scientists from Imperial College London investigated how a recently discovered hormone called kisspeptin alters brain activity in healthy volunteers.

The hormone, known as the master regulator of reproduction, not only has a crucial role in sperm and egg production, but may also boost reproductive behaviours.

In the new research, the scientists investigated how the hormone affects the brain when it is 'at rest'. So-called resting brain activity is the state our brain enters when not concentrating on a task, and is akin to a car ticking over in neutral. Studying this 'neutral', resting state is crucial for understanding what happens when the brain is active, and the car accelerates. Furthermore, studying the resting brain allows scientists to examine large brain networks they know are abnormal in various psychological disorders, and see if certain hormones or drugs can affect this.

In the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight, the hormone was shown to change activity in key brain networks at rest, which was linked to decreased sexual aversion, and increased brain activity associated with sexual arousal. The scientists also observed that the hormone boosted several networks in the brain involved in mood and depression. Professor Waljit Dhillo, an NIHR Research Professor and senior author of the study from Imperial's Department of Medicine said: 'Although we have previously investigated how this hormone affects the brain when it is in an active state, this is the first time we've demonstrated it also affects the brain in its baseline, resting state. These insights suggest the hormone could one day be used to treat conditions such as low sex drive or depression'.

[...] [Co-Author] Dr Comninos concluded: "We have conducted previous studies that showed kisspeptin can activate specific brain areas involved in sex and emotions. However, this study enhances our knowledge of the hormone even further. Our findings suggest it can actually influence entire networks in the brain even when we are not doing anything, and this is linked to subsequent sexual and emotional function. Taken together, these findings provide the scientific basis to investigate kisspeptin-based treatments in patients with psychosexual and mood disorders, which are both huge health issues, and frequently occur together."

The team are now hoping to further investigate how kisspeptin affects sexual behaviours, and translate this work into patients with psychosexual and mood disorders.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday October 21 2018, @09:43PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Sunday October 21 2018, @09:43PM (#751776) Journal

    Depends. A gigolo might need this. Wealthy men and women will have plenty of sex slaves companions to choose from in the post-employment era. If you want to get a leg up on the competition, you need to be ready to go, day and night.

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