Cesare Battaglia, MD, PhD Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna Via Massarenti, 13 - 40138 Bologna, Italy
E-mail: cesare.battaglia[at]unibo.it
In lower mammals there is a strict relationship between ovarian cycle and sexual behaviour such that virtually all sexual activities take place around the oestrous (the time of maximal fertility). In non-human primates this relationship is less distinct; nevertheless, sexual activity is at its highest level during the late follicular and periovulatory period of the menstrual cycle. A more tenuous association has been found between the sexuality of women and the menstrual cycle. In fact, although Stanislaw and Rice1 reported that sexual desire is generally experienced a few days before the basal body temperature shift (around the expected ovulation date), Meuwissen and Over2 evidenced that the female sexual response does not vary during the menstrual cycle.
Giovanni Corona and Mario Maggi
Andrology Unit, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
E-mail: Giovanni Corona: jocorona[at]libero.it
and Mario Maggi: m.maggi[at]dfc.unifi.it
Sexual motivation is considered the fuel of male sexual function. It refers to the impetus arising from internal and external (visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory) stimulations to seek out or create occasions for engaging in sexual behavior (1). According to the pioneering work of Master and Johnson, the human sexual response cycle, both in males and females, consists of four phases including excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution (2).