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Volume 8, Issue 3 (May 2006) 8, 259–264; 10.1111/j.1745-7262.2006.00110.x
Role of the brain in the control of erection
Yasin Temel, Sepehr Hafizi, Sonny Tan and Veerle Visser-Vandewalle
1.Department of Neurosurgery, European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), University Hospital Maastricht, 6202 AZ Maastricht, the Netherlands
2.Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3QT, UK
Correspondence: Dr Yasin Temel, M.D., Department of Neurosurgery, European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), University Hospital Maastricht, P. O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, the Netherlands. Fax: +31-43-387-6038. E-mail: y.temel@np.unimaas.nl
Received 1 June 2005; Accepted 8 November 2005
| Abstract |
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In contrast to the spinal control of erection, relatively little is known about the brain control. In the present review, we have outlined the role of brain structures involved in penile erection and provided a synopsis on the brain circuit of erection. Findings from both animal and human studies are discussed. Evidence suggests that the most important structures are the frontal lobe, cingulate gyrus, amygdala, thalamus and hypothalamus. Within the brain circuit of erection, the thalamus serves as a gate-controller in which all relevant information is evaluated and further processed to higher and lower centres.
Keywords: penile erection, brain, spinal, circuit
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