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Using EEG recordings, the authors studied nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) in males ranging in age from three to seventy-nine years. The data provided clear
evidence that NPT occurs consistently in healthy human males throughout these years and that it is in some way related to a stage of psychosexual development as well as to sexual capacity and function. For example, there is a high incidence of tumescence in prepubertal and pubertal years, with a gradual decline in tumescence from puberty on. The greater incidence during prepubertal and pubertal years reflects at least some increase in non-REM related tumescence; the tendency, therefore, to exhibit NPT during this period is so great that its association with REM sleep is overridden. There is a slight but consistent decline in REM-related tumescence from the twenties through the seventies and a concurrent increase in non-REM tumescence. This increase in non-REM tumescence at the expense of REM-related tumescence may bear some relation to the changes in sexual capacity and function that occur with age. The authors feel that the accurate measurement of NPT can contribute to the diagnostic evaluation of impotence, possibly helping to differentiate between its organic and psychological causes.