Psychosomatic Medicine 14:174-181 (1952)
© 1952 American Psychosomatic Society

Effect of Alcohol on the Sexual Reflexes of Normal and Neurotic Male Dogs

¹ Pavlovian Laboratory, Phipps Clinic, Johns Hopkins University

Alcohol in small, moderate, and large doses has a depressant effect on sexual reflexes in proportion to the dose. In the small dose this effect is to cause an increase in latent period of ejaculation and erection and shortening of the duration of erection; in large doses there is an unequivocal and complete abolishment of both ejaculation and erection. Its effect is not only, however, proportionate to the dose but is closely correlated with the constitution (including past history) of the dog. Its influence on sexual reflexes is fairly parallel to that on salivary and motor conditional and unconditional reflexes.

Not only does the influence of alcohol vary somewhat with the individual animal, but there is a marked difference in its action on the normal and on neurotic dogs. Thus in regulated doses it may have a therapeutic effect in impotentia sexualis and ejaculatio praecox, probably by diminishing genital sensitivity and increasing the latent period of complete erection and ejaculation.