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The Journal of Neuroscience, June 22, 2005, 25(25):5984-5987; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0712-05.2005

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BRIEF COMMUNICATION
The Sensory Cortical Representation of the Human Penis: Revisiting Somatotopy in the Male Homunculus

Christian A. Kell,1,2 Katharina von Kriegstein,1,2 Alexander Rösler,3 Andreas Kleinschmidt,1,2 and Helmut Laufs1,2

1Brain Imaging Center and 2Department of Neurology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany, and 3Albertinen Haus Geriatric Center, Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, University of Hamburg, 22459 Hamburg, Germany

Pioneering mapping studies of the human cortex have established the notion of somatotopy in sensory representation, which transpired into Penfield and Rasmussen's famous sensory homunculus diagram. However, regarding the primary cortical representation of the genitals, classical and modern findings appear to be at odds with the principle of somatotopy, often assigning it to the cortex on the mesial wall. Using functional neuroimaging, we established a mediolateral sequence of somatosensory foot, penis, and lower abdominal wall representation on the contralateral postcentral gyrus in primary sensory cortex and a bilateral secondary somatosensory representation in the parietal operculum.

Key words: somatosensory; sequence; genital; primary sensory; secondary sensory; postcentral gyrus; MRI; functional; brain

Received Feb 22, 2005; revised May 4, 2005; accepted May 5, 2005.






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