The cortical sensory representation of genitalia in women and men: a systematic review

Figures & data

Table 1 Methods and results of studies of the localization of the somatosensory representation of genitalia

							Somatotopic sensory organization of genitalia [x, y, z coordinates]
Authors	Year	Sample	Condition	Method for localization	Stimulation method	Induced sexual arousal	Primary sensory cortex	Secondary sensory cortex	Insula
I. Original studies
Allison et al.	1996	29 M/18 W	Epilepsy	EEG	Electrical stimulation of dorsal pudendal nerve	N	Mesial wall of postcentral gyrus, anterior to the foot sensory area	Not investigated	Not investigated
Arnow et al.	2002	14 M	Healthy	fMRI	Erotic videos	Y	No reported activation	[−34, 5, 18]*^M	[42, 6, −2]; [38, −10, −4]; [40, −8, −12]*^M
Arnow et al.	2009	20/16 F	Healthy/HSDD	fMRI	Erotic videos	Y	No reported activation	Deactivation in healthy: [40, −18, 18]; activation in patients: [−31, 19, 9]*^T	No activation
Bocher et al.	2001	10 M	Healthy	PET	Erotic videos	Y	No reported activation	[−54, −25, 21]*^T	No reported activation
Bradley et al.	1998	6 M	Epilepsy	Subdural contact electrodes	Electrical stimulation of DPN	N	Postcentral gyrus, lateral to midline + mesial wall	Not investigated	Not investigated
Brunetti et al.	2008	18 M	Healthy	fMRI	Erotic videos	Y	No reported activation	[49, −21, 21], [−52, −23, 20]*^T	[40, −1, 4], [−41, 0, 5]*^T
Ferretti et al.	2005	10 M	Healthy	fMRI	Erotic videos	Y	No reported activation	[50, −22, 20], [−52, −20, 17]*^T	[38, −5, 8], [−39, −3, 12], [−40, −7, 10]*^T
Georgiadis et al.	2006	12 W	Healthy	PET	Manual stimulation of the clitoris by partner	Y	Postcentral gyrus, lateral to midline Arousal before orgasm: [16, −40, 68]; [−20; −44, 66]. Orgasm: [16, −36, 66]*^M	Inferior parietal lobule [−52, −28, 40]*^M	[36, −18, 14]*^M
Georgiadis et al.	2009	11 M/12 F	Healthy	PET	Manual genital stimulation by partner	Y	Common activations for M and W: [−20, −38, 64]*^M	Common activations for M and W: [−54, −22, 28]*^M	Activation stronger in W: [40, −20, 14]*^M
Georgiadis et al.	2010	16 M	Healthy	Perfusion fMRI	Manual penile stimulation by partner	Y	Paracentral lobule [8, −38, 72]*^M correlation with circumference Postcentral gyrus, lateral to midline [20, −42, 68]*^M: correlation with circumference variations	[50, −32, 16]*^M [48, −38, 16]*^M [−48, −38, 26]*^M [50, −22, 22]*^M	[32, 24, 8], [32, 28, −2], [32, 22, 2], [32, 16, −6], [−36, 6, 0], [−34, 30, −4], [−38, 2, −10]*^M
Guérit and Opsomer	1991	5 M/5 W	Healthy	EEG	Electrical stimulation of DPN and DCN	N	Surmised location: Mesial wall of postcentral gyrus	No reported activation	No reported activation
Haldeman et al.	1983	5 W	Healthy	EEG	Electrical stimulation of the perineal nerve	N	Surmised location: Mesial wall of postcentral gyrus	No reported activation	No reported activation
Hu et al.	2008	20 M	Healthy	fMRI	Erotic film	Y	Lateral postcentral gyrus [32, −36, 66]*^M	No reported activation	[−38, 0, 6], [−40, 0, −4], [38, 6, −10]*^M
Kell et al.	2005	8 M	Healthy	fMRI	Tactile stimulation of the penis with toothbrush	N	Lateral postcentral gyrus [24, −33, 72]*^M	Prepuce: [61, −21, 14]; [−63, −15, 15]; [53, 0, 0]; [−55, 6, 2]; penile shaft: [61, −21, 16];[−63, −22, 34]; [63, −11, 12]; [−51, −4, 4]*^T	No reported activation
Komisaruk et al.	2011	11 W	Healthy	fMRI	Stimulation of clitoris (with hand), vagina and cervix (with stimulator)	Likely	Mesial wall of postcentral gyrus [no report of coordinates]	Activated [no report of coordinates]	No reported activation
Mäkelä et al.	2003	7 M	Healthy	MEG	Stimulation of DPN	N	Mesial wall of postcentral gyrus [−4, −34, 54; 3, −33, 54]*^T	[53, −14, 23]; [51, −15, 17]; [−43, −20, 14]; [−47, −23, 19]*^T	No reported activation
Michels et al.	2010	15 W	Healthy	fMRI	Electrical stimulation of DCN	Intermediary	Postcentral gyrus, lateral to midline [−18, −38, 63; 19, −37, 57]*^T	[56, −2, 12]; [57, −22, 29]; [−53, −2, 10]; [−55, −17, 21]; [−57, −27, 26]*^T	[−31, 3, 16], [−48, −37, 20], [41 1 12]*^T
Moulier et al.	2006	10 M	Healthy	fMRI	Erotic photographs	Y	Postcentral gyrus, lateral to midline [39, −46, 65] Paracentral lobule [0, −27, 54; −9, −42, 69; 9,−39, 72]*^M	[−54, −33, 27]*^M	[−36, 18, 0], [−42, −15, −3], [−45, −3, 3], [39, 3, −9], [45, 15, −6], [−45, −3, 6], [36, 18, 9]*^M
Mouras et al.	2008	8 M	Healthy	fMRI	Erotic videos	Y	Paracentral lobule [−6, −30, 57]*^M	[−54, −18, 21]; [60, −12, 21]*^M	[−42, 3, 6], [−33, 18, 0], [−39, 12, −9], [42, 6, −6], [−42, −6, −6], [42, 0, 9]*^M
Nakagawa et al.	1998	5 M	Healthy	MEG + sMRI	Electrical stimulation of DPN	N	Mesial wall: medial end of central sulcus	No reported activation	No reported activation
Pukall et al.	2005	28 W	Healthy/vulvar vestibulitis syndrome	fMRI	Non-painful pressure to the posterior vulva	N	No reported activation	[−54, −22, 22], healthy; [−58, −24, 20], patients*^T	[−38, −10, 16] healthy; [−34, −2, 14] patients*^T
Redouté et al.	2000	9 M	Healthy	PET	Erotic photographs and videos	Y	Postcentral gyrus, lateral to midline [−16, −26, 72]*^M	[−72, −24, 22]*^M	No reported activation
Yang and Kromm	2004	77 W	Healthy	EEG	Electrical stimulation of DCN and of vagina	N	Surmised location: Mesial wall of postcentral gyrus	No reported activation	Not investigated
II. Meta-analyses
Kuhn and Gallinat	2011	Meta-analysis 154 M	Healthy	fMRI, PET	Erotic photographs and videos	Y	No reported activation	[54, −31, 31];[−53, −23, 21]*^M	[45, 6, −3]; [−42 −2, 6]; [−34, 16, −1]^*M
Poeppl et al.	2014	Meta-analysis 227 M	Healthy	fMRI, PET	Erotic photographs and videos	Y	No reported activation	[56, −20, 20]; [−54, −22, 18]*^M	[44, −2, 4]; [46, 12, −6]; [−44, −2, 6]; [−34, 18, 0]*^M
Sescousse et al.	2013	Meta-analysis 443 (M + F)	Healthy	fMRI, PET	Erotic photographs and videos	Y	No reported activation	[56, −26, 38]*^M	[−38, 14, −12]; [34, 10, −6]*^M
Stoléru et al.	2012	Meta-analysis 235 M	Healthy	fMRI, PET	Erotic photographs and videos	Y	No reported activation	[50, −24, 22]; [−52, −28, 20]*M	[40, 6, −6]; [36, 18, −14]; [40, −2, 6]; [−42, 0, 6]; [−40, 12, −10]*^M

DCN, dorsal clitoral nerve; DPN, dorsal penile nerve; EEG, electroencephalography; F, females; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; HSDD, hypoactive sexual desire disorder; M, males; MEG, magnetoencephalography; N, No; PET, positron emission tomography; sMRI, structural magnetic resonance imaging; Y, Yes.

*^M, MNI coordinates; *^T, Talairach coordinates.

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