International journal of impotence research
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Int. J. Impot. Res. · Apr 2001
A new potential of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional MRI for evaluating cerebral centers of penile erection.
It is well known that penile erection is dependent on commands from the central nervous system. However, there has been little research on the central control of penile erection. The aim of this study was to evaluate, for the first time, the cerebral centers of penile erection using BOLD-functional MRI. ⋯ In the hypogonadal patients, brain activation in response to the erotic film decreased compared to normal volunteers, however, it was restored by testosterone supplementation. These results are the first demonstration to show the functional neuroanatomy of the brain associated with sexual arousal by visual sexual stimulation using BOLD-based fMRI. Further studies are needed to verify that fMRI provides an important new tool in evaluating the cerebral center of the penile erection.