Neuroscience has uncovered fascinating insights into the brain processes involved in human drives and sexual behaviour, and romantic relationships are now a particular focus of attention. With advanced imaging techniques and hormone testing methods, neurotransmitters and brain regions in humans can now be investigated. This allows researchers to describe the complex neural patterns that enable us to feel desire, exhilaration, and commitment to a partner. Sex in the Brain provides insights into how the brain impacts on sexual behaviour on every level. Each chapter describes the empirical studies that are particularly relevant, while the summaries and case examples that end each chapter give clear suggestions on how neurobiological knowledge can become a valuable part of therapeutic methods.
This book is ideal for therapists unsure how to raise the subject of sex in the consulting room and for those already experienced in working with sexual issues. It is also ideal for anyone keen to learn more about their own responses and interactions with a partner, and includes a helpful glossary.
Janice Hiller is a consultant clinical psychologist who worked in the NHS in adult mental health initially, before specialising in sexology. She set up and ran the Relationship and Psychosexual Service in North-East London, and then joined Tavistock Relationships as senior academic tutor in psychosexual studies until 2017. Janice has taught on doctoral degree and training courses, presented at many conferences in the UK and abroad, and has published on a range of topics. These include sexual arousal and desire, pain disorders, biopsychosocial factors in sexual development, and neurobiological aspects of sexual responding. She was joint editor and contributor to Sex, Mind, and Emotion (Hiller, Wood, &; Bolton, 2006), and co-wrote a chapter for the European-wide Syllabus of Clinical Sexology. Janice has a private practice in North London and is especially interested in the relevance of neuroscience in understanding sexual behaviour.
Professor Brett Kahr, Senior Fellow, Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology, London, and Honorary Director of Research and Honorary Fellow at the Freud Museum London. –
‘In this highly original and truly gripping work, Janice Hiller creatively explores the interrelationship between human sexuality and neurobiology in a most unique manner. Covering everything from dopamine and serotonin to marriage and infidelity, the author helps us to understand the impact of sex upon the brain and vice versa. I hope that this book will be absorbed by all health care professionals, whether those who specialise in the mind or in the body.’
Stephen B. Levine MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA –
‘The more I think about our fate, the more humbled I am about my knowledge of its mechanisms. We therapists use diverse inadequate paradigms to try to understand the mind. Now we can all welcome this lovely little book that reviews for us what neuroscience can and cannot add to our grasp of love and sex.’
Christopher Clulow, PhD, Consultant Couple Psychotherapist and Senior Fellow of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology –
‘This compact book contains a wealth of information about the neurobiology of sexuality and intimacy over the life course. Scientifically rooted and clinically informed it takes on the challenge of integrating psychosocial and bio-behavioural factors that affect the emotional basis of sexual response. It should be on the bookshelf of all psychosexual therapists and others interested in understanding the psychogenesis of sexual behaviour.’
Nick Campion MBACP, integrative psychotherapist, Therapy Today, December 2024 –
‘The book is well researched, erudite, clearly written and interesting. […] This neuropsychosexual approach may well offer valuable new ways for our clients to access a space of acceptance and understanding.’