title: Role of the brain in the control of erection.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuro-surgery, European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), University Hospital Maastricht, P. O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, Netherlands. y.temel@np.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: Yasin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Temel
authors.forename: Sepehr
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hafizi
authors.forename: Sonny
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Veerle
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Visser-Vandewalle
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net; D010410:Penile Erection; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology