Serge Stoléru is a doctor of medicine and psychology, Head of Research at Inserm-Hôpital Paul Brousse in Villejuif, south of Paris. He is one of the first researchers to investigate the neurobiological causes of love and sexual desire.


A lively and accessible text, illustrated by numerous actual scientific experiments
How does desire work? Does the brain play a role in the passion of love? What are the cerebral causes of sexual desire? With advances in neuroscience it is now possible to understand how our brain processes the signals that drive our sexuality.
Written by Serge Stoléru after eight years of research, this book traces how by using functional neuroimaging techniques scientists have managed to understand the parts of the brain that become active when we feel sexual desire or amorous passion.
The stakes are high because these questions touch upon not only the desires of those who feel fulfilled in their sexual and emotional lives, but also those of men and women who suffer from inhibitions or who, inversely, suffer from real sexual addictions.
In addition, this knowledge sheds light on certain social and legal problems such as sexually-motivated attacks, and we know how frequent they are and how much suffering they cause. If sexual desire is caused by brain function, where does moral and legal responsibility lie? What is free will in respect to sexual desire? Can neuroscience illuminate judicial debate? Finally, what freedom do we have in the face of our own desires?