Table 2.

Stereotaxic (Montreal Neurological Institute) coordinates of increases and decreases in rCBF during ejaculation compared with penile stimulation

Coordinates
Side Brain region xyz z-score
Activations
Brainstem
Right Medial pontomesencephalic tegmentum 2 −28 −22 5.80
Left Lateral pontine tegmentum −18 −14 −34 6.69
Right Lateral pontine tegmentum 14 −28 −30 5.28
Midline Dorsal medulla (solitary complex) 0 −46 −50 5.48
Thalamus/midbrain
Left Mesodiencephalic junction −8 −24 0 7.75
Right Mesodiencephalic junction 12 −24 0 6.53
Right Anterior thalamus 12 −4 6 6.03
Basal ganglia
Right Claustrum/insula 34 14 −8 6.21
Left Claustrum/putamen −32 6 4 6.28
Right Claustrum/putamen 32 6 0 6.50
Right Putamen 20 4 8 5.38
Cortical areas
Left Inferior occipital gyrus (BA 18) −2 −100 −4 5.20
Right Lingual gyrus (BA 18) 4 −86 −12 6.22
Midline Lingual gyrus (BA 18) 0 −92 −6 5.74
Right Precuneus/post. cingulate (BA 31/23) 16 −62 24 6.38
Right Precuneus (BA 7) 8 −54 50 6.05
Right Supramarginal gyrus (BA 40) 52 −48 28 7.70
Right Inferior parietal lobule (BA 40) 28 −38 50 5.39
Right Paracentral lobule (BA 5) 18 −26 58 5.93
Right Frontal dorsal gyrus (BA 6) 16 4 60 5.88
Left Superior/medial frontal gyrus (BA 6) −30 −4 64 5.61
Right Superior temporal gyrus (BA 39) 54 −60 36 7.05
Right Temporal operculum (BA 42) 52 −28 12 6.20
Right Inferior temporal gyrus (BA 20/21) 64 −6 −32 6.33
Right Insula 44 14 12 5.54
Right Inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47) 54 44 −12 7.03
Right Inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47) 56 38 −6 6.71
Cerebellum
Left Deep cerebellar nuclei −6 −44 −24 5.88
Left Deep cerebellar nuclei −8 −52 −30 5.31
Left Vermis −4 −88 −28 5.33
Right Vermis 2 −58 −4 6.61
Right Vermis 2 −66 −32 6.47
Left Hemisphere −34 −58 −40 7.38
Left Hemisphere −30 −84 −34 7.19
Right Hemisphere 32 −68 −46 6.55
Deactivations
Left Entorhinal cortex −16 0 −38 4.34
Left Entorhinal cortex −18 10 −32 3.91
Left Amygdala −18 2 −24 3.34
  • The height threshold for activations was t = 6.09 (p < 0.01; corrected for multiple comparisons) and for deactivations t = 3.21 (p <0.001; uncorrected for multiple comparisons; extent threshold 8 voxels). Activations and deactivations are reported in the table as z-scores (conversion of t statistics to normal distribution). After transformation to Talairach coordinates, the cortical regions were identified using the Talairach atlas (Talairach and Tournoux, 1988). The thalamic and rostral midbrain structures were identified according to the stereotactic atlas of the human brain by Mai et al. (1997).