title: The role of left superior parietal lobe in male sexual behavior: dynamics of distinct components revealed by FMRI.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the interest for the brain correlates of male sexual arousal, few studies investigated neural mechanisms underlying psychogenic erectile dysfunction (ED). Although these studies showed several brain regions active in ED patients during visual erotic stimulation, the dynamics of inhibition of sexual response is still unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated the dynamics of brain regions involved in the psychogenic ED.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and simultaneous penile tumescence (PT) were used to study brain activity evoked in 17 outpatients with psychogenic ED and 19 healthy controls during visual erotic stimulation. Patterns of brain activation related to different phases of sexual response in the two groups were compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  Simultaneous recording of blood oxygen level-dependent fMRI responses and PT during visual erotic stimulation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During visual erotic stimuli, a larger activation was observed for the patient group in the left superior parietal lobe, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex, whereas the control group showed larger activation in the right middle insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus. Moreover, the left superior parietal lobe showed a larger activation in patients than controls especially during the later stage of sexual response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that, among regions more active in patient group, the left superior parietal lobe plays a crucial role in inhibition of sexual response. Previous studies showed that left superior parietal lobe is involved in monitoring of internal body representation. The larger activation of this region in patients during later stages of sexual response suggests a high monitoring of the internal body representation, possibly affecting the behavioral response. These findings provide insight on brain mechanisms involved in psychogenic ED.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, G d'Annunzio University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy. n.cera@unich.it
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cera
authors.forename: Ezio D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Di Pierro
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sepede
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gambi
authors.forename: Mauro Gianni
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Perrucci
authors.forename: Arcangelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merla
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tartaro
authors.forename: Cosimo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Del Gratta
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galatioto Paradiso
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vicentini
authors.forename: Gian Luca
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Romani
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferretti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004882:Erotica / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011603:Psychophysiology