The sensory cortical representation of the human penis: Revisiting somatotopy in the male homunculus

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Christian A. Kell - , University Hospital Frankfurt (Author)
  • Katharina Von Kriegstein - , Brain Imaging Center (BIC), University Hospital Frankfurt (Author)
  • Alexander Rösler - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Andreas Kleinschmidt - , University Hospital Frankfurt (Author)
  • Helmut Laufs - , University Hospital Frankfurt (Author)

Abstract

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.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5984-5987
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Neuroscience
Volume25
Issue number25
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jul 2005
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

PubMed 15976087
ORCID /0000-0001-7989-5860/work/142244415

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Brain, Functional, Genital, MRI, Postcentral gyrus, Primary sensory, Secondary sensory, Sequence, Somatosensory

Library keywords