Kisspeptin enhanced brain activity in attraction-processing regions, increased penile tumescence, and boosted attraction ratings in response to feminine scents and attractive faces in healthy men.
Enhanced limbic brain activityKisspeptin significantly increased amygdala, caudate, putamen, and thalamus responses to attraction cues in healthy men
What the researchers found
In 33 healthy men, kisspeptin enhanced limbic brain activity (amygdala, caudate, putamen, thalamus) to olfactory and visual attraction cues, enhanced penile tumescence, and increased attraction scores.
Why it matters
Expands kisspeptin's role beyond explicit sexual stimuli to broader attraction processing, suggesting it modulates fundamental mate-selection brain circuits.
The numbers in context
33 healthy men; enhanced amygdala, caudate, putamen, thalamus activity; increased penile tumescence and attraction scores
How the study worked
Double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2-way crossover fMRI study in 33 healthy heterosexual men.
Who was studied
Healthy heterosexual young men
What this study cannot tell us
Male participants only. Healthy men, not HSDD patients. Single-session design.
How to read the evidence
Moderate evidence: rigorous double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design with objective fMRI and physiological measures, but limited to 33 healthy men in a single-session lab setting.
When this study was published
Published in 2020 in JCI Insight. Remains highly relevant as kisspeptin research for sexual function continues to advance toward clinical applications.
The bigger picture
This study expands kisspeptin's known role from a purely reproductive hormone regulator to a modulator of attraction and desire circuits in the brain. Previous work showed kisspeptin enhances responses to explicit sexual content, but this study demonstrates it also amplifies responses to subtler cues — scents and faces. This positions kisspeptin as a potential therapeutic target for conditions involving low desire or attraction, such as hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), with a mechanism that works through natural brain attraction pathways rather than simply boosting hormone levels.
Questions still open
- Does kisspeptin have similar effects on brain attraction responses in women?
- Could kisspeptin therapy help men with hypoactive sexual desire disorder or reduced attraction after hormonal treatment?
- Is kisspeptin's effect on attraction circuits independent of its effects on reproductive hormones like testosterone?
Common questions
What is kisspeptin and what does it normally do?
Could kisspeptin be used to treat low sexual desire?
Read the original research
Kisspeptin enhances brain responses to olfactory and visual cues of attraction in men.
JCI insight, 5(3)
Citation
Comninos, Alexander N; Demetriou, Lysia; Wall, Matthew B; Shah, Amar J; Clarke, Sophie A; Narayanaswamy, Shakunthala; Neher, Asija; Dodge, John A; Bloom, Stuart R; Dhillo, Waljit S. (2020). Kisspeptin enhances brain responses to olfactory and visual cues of attraction in men.. JCI insight, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.133633