生物谷报道：最新研究发现，监控人体大脑特殊脑波的改变可以测定人大脑的精神能量，该方法是第一个定量方法。英国性医学学会会长Ralph称此项技术是“一个非常有趣的观点，因为从来没有任何测定人体能量的定量方法。”Vardi在欧洲性学会开展他的研究，现在正准备用来测试使用抗抑郁药物后的病人体能量下降情况。
在技术测定方法中，除了性欲之外，以色列海法市蓝般医院和理工科大学的Vardi在美国新科学家杂志发表言论说，他们发现性刺激的能量是最强的。
到目前为止，对30个具有正常性功能的人进行了测试，如果进一步的实验仍然是成功的，Vardi希望他的方法可以得到更广泛的应用。用来定量分析药物对人体能量的降低或者加强所产生的副作用。
但是他也警告说，这种方法是否可能建立为测定人体能量的绝对测量方法仍为时尚早，而且仍需要对性功能障碍的人群进行进一步的试验来证明此种方法的可行性。
Vardi对具有正常性功能的14个男性和16个女性自愿者进行实验。使用标准的EEG仪器，一副耳麦和一台电脑监控，受试者聆听音乐和其它的声音来刺激p300脑波。在音乐或者声音后对刺激产生300毫妙的这些正常脑波。受试者观看40秒钟混合了运动，自然和浪漫的景观的色情电影剪辑。研究者记录p300脑波强度的减少，并测定一些受试者在多大程度上受到这些电影剪辑的影响，而色情电影剪辑对脑波强度的减少是最多的。
他比较了受试者在看了色情电影剪辑对他们产生的影响后填写的问卷调查。发现在他们的描述与p300脑波强度的下降之间有很强的关联，而且男性与女性的比较结果是相似的。
对于p300脑波强度的减少的测量不是仅限于人体能量的测定，而且科学家已经对此测定方法使用了许多年。他利用此技术来测定人体能量的灵感来自于神经学院的科学家，他们用此项技术来测定人们在车祸过程中人注意力的集中程度。此种方法研究的难点在于寻找一种标准方法来测量一个特殊的色情电影对观看者产生怎样的刺激。为了得到一个标准化的色情电影剪辑是存在很大的问题的。Vardi说他在意大利测试25个男性和女性使用的电影剪辑是他曾经使用的最能产生刺激作用的电影剪辑（http://www.bioon.com/）。
Watching brain waves could quantify libido
Monitoring the change in specific brain waves could be the first quantitative method for measuring libido, new research suggests.
The technique measures attention, rather than sexual desire specifically, but Yoram Vardi, at Rambam Hospital and the Technion, both in Haifa, Israel told NewScientist: "We found that sexual stimuli are the most potent."
So far 30 people with normal sexual function have been tested, but if further tests are successful, Vardi hopes his method will have many applications. These could include quantitatively analysing the libido-lowering (or enhancing) side effects of medication or even supporting legal claims of a reduction in sex drive after an accident.
But he cautions that it is too early to say for sure whether it will be possible to establish an absolute measurement scale for libido.
David Ralph, chairman of the British Society for Sexual Medicine, says the technique is "an interesting concept and the first of its kind - there has never been any quantitative measurement of libido".
He told New Scientist further tests are needed involving people with sexual dysfunction to indicate the potential of the approach, but adds that "another tool to help diagnose patients is always helpful".
Random clips
Vardi conducted experiments on 14 male and 16 female volunteers with normal sexual function. Using standard EEG equipment, a pair of headphones and a computer monitor, the subjects listened to music and other sounds to stimulate p300 brain waves. These waves, produced 300 milliseconds after an event, are the brain's normal response to stimuli.
The subjects were then shown a random selection of 40-second film clips, which mixed erotic clips in amongst footage of sports, nature and romantic vistas. The reduction in amplitude of the p300 waves was recorded and provides a measure of how much someone was distracted by a clip.
The reduction in amplitude was significantly greater for the sexual clips than for the others. Vardi then compared the results with questionnaires the subjects filled in afterwards about how much each erotic clip had aroused them. He found a strong correlation between their description and the drop in p300 amplitude, and the results were similar for men and women.
Standard stimulation
Vardi acknowledges that the measurement of p300 reduction is not specific to libido and has been used by researchers for other purposes for many years. He was inspired to use it in a sexual context by a neurologist colleague who was using the technique to measure the attention capabilities of people involved in car accidents.
Vardi, who presented his research at the recent European Society for Sexual Medicine Congress, is now preparing to test patients whose libido has been lowered by prescribed drugs, such as antidepressants.
One of the challenges, he says, is to find a standard measure of how stimulating a particular piece of erotic footage is to viewers. "To have a standardised sexual clip is very problematic," Vardi said. The footage he used had been tested in Italy by 25 men and women. "Only the clips that were the most arousing were used," he says.
