Nocturnal penile tumescence in depressed men.

Nocturnal penile tumescence recordings were performed in 10 men with major depression and 10 age-matched healthy control subjects to evaluate the possibility that clinical disturbances in sexual interest and activity often reported by depressed persons are associated with objective changes in sexual neurophysiology. Depressed men had significantly reduced minutes of tumescence time, a finding that was not attributable to alterations in sleep efficiency or REM sleep time. Three depressed men had baseline tumescence profiles suggestive of "organogenic" impotence, which improved after recovery. The authors discuss the implications of such findings for clinical practice and future research.