Summary
Smooth muscle relaxation of penile arteries, the corpus cavernosum, and the corpus spongiosum, leading to penile erection, results from parasympathetic neural pathway activation and, likely, simultaneous inhibition of sympathetic outflow. Proerectile parasympathetic outflow is reflexively activated by sensory information of peripheral origin, conveyed by the dorsal penile nerve, and reflexive erections are supported by an intraspinal circuitry. Supraspinal influences modulate the reflex. Information integrated at or originating from supraspinal structures may also elicit penile erection. Several neurotransmitters are involved in either the modulation of the spinal reflex or the mediation of supraspinal influences. Spinal cord injury differently alters reflexive penile erection or erection from a central origin, depending on the neurologic level of injury.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agmö A (1976) Mating in male rabbits after anesthesia of the glans penis. Physiol Behav 17: 435–437
Anderson CR, Edwards SL, Furness JB, Bredt DS, Snyder SH (1993) The distribution of nitric oxide synthase-containing autonomic preganglionic terminals in the rat. Brain Res 614: 78–85
Andersson KE, Wagner G (1995) Physiology of penile erection. Physiol Rev 75: 191–236
Araki L, DeGroat WC (1995) Unitary synaptic currents in preganglionic neurons mediated by two distincts groups of interneurons in sacral parasympathetic nucleus (SPN). Soc Neurosci Abstr 21: 595
Bacq ZM (1931) Impotence of the male rodent after sympathetic denervation of the genital organs. Am J Physiol 96: 321–330
Barber RP, Vaughn JE, Roberts E (1982) The cytoarchitecture of gabaergic neurons in rat spinal cord. Brain Res 238: 305–328
Barber RP, Phelps PE, Houser CR, Crawford GD, Salvaterra PM, Vaughn JE (1984) The morphology and distribution of neurons containing choline acetyltransferase in the adult rat spinal cord: an immunocytochemical study. J Comp Neurol 229: 329–346
Bernabé J, Rampin O, Giuliano F, Benoit G (1995) Intracavernous pressure changes during reflexive penile erections in the rat. Physiol Behav 57: 837–841
Bitran D, Thompson JT, Hull EM, Sachs BD (1989) Quinerolane (LY163502), a D2 dopamine receptor agonist, facilitates seminal emission, but inhibits penile erection in the rat. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 34: 453–458
Bors E, Comarr E (1960) Neurological disturbances in sexual function with special reference to 529 patients with spinal cord injury. Urol Surv 10: 191–222
Bowker RM, Abbott LC (1990) Quantitative re-evaluation of descending serotonergic and non-serotonergic projections from the medulla of the rodent: evidence for extensive coexistence of serotonin and peptides in the same spinally projecting neurons, but not from the nucleus raphe magnus. Brain Res 512: 15–25
Bowker RM, Westlund KN, Sullivan MC, Wilber JF, Coulter JD (1983) Descending serotonergic, peptidergic and cholinergic pathways from the raphe nuclei: a multiple transmitter complex. Brain Res 288: 33–48
Breedlove SM (1985) Hormonal control of the anatomical specificity of motoneuron-to-muscle innervation in rats. Science 227:1357–1359
Breedlove SM, Arnold AP (1980) Hormone accumulation in a sexually dimorphic motor nucleus of the rat spinal cord. Science 210: 564–566
Brindley GS (1988) The actions of parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves in human micturition, erection and seminal emission, and their restoration in paraplegic patients by implanted electrical stimulators. The Ferrier Lecture, 1986. Proc R Soc Lond [Biol] 235: 111–120
Bujis RM, Swaab DF, Dogterom DF, Van Leeuwen FW (1978) Intra- and extrahypothalamic vasopressin and oxytocin pathways in the rat. Cell Tissue Res 186: 423–433
Burnett AL, Saito S, Maguire M, Yamaguchi H, Chang TSK, Hanley DF (1995) Localization of nitric oxide synthase in spinal nuclei innervating pelvic ganglia. J Urol 153: 212–217
Burstein R, Wang J, Elde RP, Giesler GJ (1990) Neurons in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus that project to the hypothalamus do not also project through the pelvic nerve — a double labeling study combining Fluoro-gold and cholera toxin B in the rat. Brain Res 506: 159–165
Chapelle PA, Durand J, Lacert P (1980) Penile erection following complete spinal cord injury in man. Br J Urol 52: 216–219
Charlton CG, Helke CJ (1985) Autoradiographic localization and characterization of spinal cord substance P binding sites: high densities in sensory, autonomic, phrenic and Onufls motor nuclei. J Neurosci 5: 1635–1661
Chung K, Briner RP, Carlton SM, Westlund KN (1989) Immunohistochemical localization of seven different peptides in the human spinal cord. J Comp Neurol 280: 158–170.
Comarr AE (1970) Sexual function among patients with spinal cord injury. Urol Int 25: 134–168
Coote JH, Macleod VH, Fleetwood-Walker S, Gilbey MP (1981) The response of individual sympathetic preganglionic neurones to microiontophoretically applied endogenous monoamines. Brain Res 215: 135–145
Courtois FJ, Charvier KF, Leriche A, Raymond DP (1993) Sexual function in spinal cord injury men. I. Assessing sexual capability. Paraplegia 31: 771–784
Dahlström A, Fuxe K (1965) The distribution of monoamine neurons in the central nervous system. II. Experimentally induced changes in the intraneuronal amine level of bul bospinal neuron systems. Acta Physiol Scand 64 [Suppl 247]: 5–36
Danuser H, Thor KB (1995) Inhibition of central sympathetic and somatic outflow to the lower urinary tract of the cat by the alphal adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin. J Urol 153: 1308–1312
DeGroat WC (1970) The effects of glycine, GABA and strychnine on sacral parasympathetic preganglionic neurons. Brain Res 18: 542–544
DeGroat WC, Booth AM (1993) Neural control of penile erection. In: Maggi CA (ed) The autonomic nervous system, vol 3. Nervous control of the urogenital system. Harwood, London, ch 13, pp 467–524
DeGroat WC, Ryall RW (1967) An excitatory action of 5-hydroxytryptamine on sympathetic preganglionic neurones. Exp Brain Res 3: 299–305
Desaulles E, Reiter MK, Feltz P (1995) Electrophysiological evidence for oxytocin receptors on sympathetic preganglionic neurones — an in vitro study on the neonatal rat. Brain Res 699: 139–142
Downie JW, Bialik GJ (1988) Evidence for a spinal site of action of clonidine on somatic and viscerosomatic reflex activity evoked on the pudendal nerve in cats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 246: 352–358
Dun NJ, Mo N (1988) In vitro effects of substance P on neonatal rat sympathetic preganglionic neurones. J Physiol 399: 321–333
Dun NJ, Dun SL, Wu SY, Forstermann U, Schmidt HHHW, Tseng LF (1993) Nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity in the rat, mouse, cat and squirrel monkey spinal cord. Neuroscience 54: 845–857
Forger NG, Hodges LL, Breedlove M (1993) Ontogeny of calcitonin gene-related peptide immunoreactivity in rat lumbar motoneurons: delayed appearance and sexual dimorphism in the spinal nucleus of the bulb ocavernosus. J Comp Neurol 330: 514–520
Fritschy JM, Lyons WE, Mullen CA, Kosovsky BE, Molliver ME, Grzanna R (1987) Distribution of locus coeruleus axons in the rat spinal cord: a combined anterograde transport and immunohistochemical study. Brain Res 437: 176–180
Giuliano F, Bernabe J, Jardin A, Rousseau JP (1993) Antierectile role of the sympathetic nervous system in rats. J Urol 150: 519–524
Giuliano F, Rampin O, Jardin A, Rousseau JP (1993) Electrophysiological study of relations between the dorsal nerve of the penis and the lumbar sympathetic chain in the rat. J Urol 150: 1960–1964
Giuliano F, Rampin O, Bernabe J, Rousseau JP (1995) Neural control of penile erection in the rat. J Autonom Nerv Syst 55: 36–44
Giuliano F, Rampin O, Benoit G, Jardin A (1995) Neural control of penile erection. Urol Clin North Am 22: 747–766
Glazer EJ, Basbaum Al (1980) Leucine enkephalin: localization in and axoplasmic transport by sacral parasympathetic preganglionic neurons. Science 208: 1479–1481
Gomez-Marrero J, Feria M, Mas M (1988) Stimulation of opioid receptors suppresses penile erectile reflexes and seminal emission in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 31: 393–396
Hancock MB, Peveto CA (1979) Preganglionic neurons in the sacral spinal cord of the rat: an HRP study. Neurosci Lett 11:1–5
Hancock MB, Peveto CA (1979) A preganglionic autonomic nucleus in the dorsal gray commissure of the lumbar spinal cord of the rat. J Comp Neurol 183: 65–72
Hansen S, Svensson L, Hölcfelt T, Everitt BJ (1983) 5-Hydorxytryptamine-thyrotropin releasing hormone interactions in the spinal cord: effects on parameters of sexual behaviour in the male rat. Neurosci Lett 42: 299–304
Hart BL (1968) Sexual reflexes and mating behavior in the male rat. J Comp Physiol Psychol 65: 453–460
Hart BL, Melese-D'Hospital PY (1983) Penile mechanisms and the role of the striated penile muscles in penile reflexes. Physiol Behav 31: 807–813
Hawthorn J; Ang VTY, Jenkins JS (1985) Effects of lesions in the hypothalamic paraventricular, supraoptic and suprachiasmatic nuclei on vasopressin and oxytocin in rat brain and spinal cord. Brain Res 346: 51–57
Helke CJ, Sayson SC, Keeler JR, Charlton CG (1986) Thyrotropin-releasing hormone-immunoreactive neurons project from the ventral medulla to the intermediolateral cell column: partial coexistence with serotonin. Brain Res 381: 1–7
Herbert J (1973) The role of the dorsal nerves of the penis in the sexual behaviour of the male rhesus monkey. Physiol Behav 10: 293–300
Hernandez-Gonzalez M, Oropeza MV, Guevara MA, Cervantes M, Morali G (1994) Effects of intrathecal administration of adrenergic agonists on the frequency of copulatory pelvic thrusting of the male rat. Arch Med Res 25: 419–425
Hökfelt T, Phillipson O, Goldstein M (1979) Evidence for a dopaminergic pathway in the rat descending from the Al l cell group to the spinal cord. Acta Physiol Scand 107: 393–395
Holmes GM, Chapple WD, Leipheimer RE, Sachs BD (1991) Electromyographic analysis of male rat perineal muscles during copulation and reflexive erections. Physiol Behav 49: 1235–1246
Holstege G, Kuypers HGJM, Boer RC (1969) Anatomical evidence for direct brainstem projections to the somatic motoneuronal cell groups and autonomic preganglionic cell groups in cat spinal cord. Brain Res 171: 329–333
Holstege G, Blok BFM, Horst GJ ter (1995) Brainstem systems involved in the blink reflex, feeding mechanisms, and micturition. In: Paxinos G (ed) The rat nervous system, 2nd edn. Academic Press, San Diego, ch 14, pp 257–295
Honda CN (1985) Visceral and somatic afferent convergence onto neurons near the central canal in the sacral spinal cord of the cat. J Neurophysiol 53: 1059–1078
Honda CN, Lee CL (1985) Immunohistochemistry of synaptic input and functional characterizations of neurons near the spinal central canal. Brain Res 343: 120–128
Honda CN, Perl E (1985) Functional and morphological features of neurons in the midline region of the caudal spinal cord of the cat. Brain Res 340: 285–295
Hong Y, Weaver LC (1993) Distribution of immunoreactivity for enkephalin, substance P and vasoactive intestinal peptide in fibres surrounding splanchnic sympathetic preganglionic neurons in rats. Neuroscience 57: 1121–1133
Jänig W, McLachlan EM (1987) Organization of lumbar sympathetic outflow to distal colon and pelvic organs. Physiol Rev 67: 1332–1404
Johnson RD (1989) Physiology of single spinal cord sensory neurons responding to penile stimulation in the rat. Soc Neurosci Abstr 15: 756
Johnson RD, Dugan VP (1991) Physiology of muscle afferents in the bulbospongiosus and ischiocavernosus of rats. Soc Neurosci Abstr 17: 1000
Johnson RD, Kitchell RL (1987) Mechanoreceptor response to mechanical and thermal stimuli in the glans penis of the dog. J Neurophysiol 57: 1813–1836
Katagiri T, Gibson SJ, Polak JM (1986) Composition and central projections of the pudendal nerve in the rat investigated by combined peptide immunocytochemistry and retrograde fluorescent labelling. Brain Res 372: 313–322
Kawano M, Sugita O, Inagaki S, Furuyama T, Takagi H (1993) Neuropeptide Y innervation in the spinal nucleus of bulbocavernosus of the rat. Neurosci Lett 152: 158–160
Keast JR, DeGroat WC (1992) Segmental distribution and peptide content of primary afferent neurons innervating the urogenital organs and colon of male rats. J Comp Neurol 319: 615–623
Kitchell RL, Gilanpour H, Johnson RD (1982) Electrophysiologic study of penile mechanoreceptors in the rat. Exp Neurol 75: 229–244
Kojima M, Matsuura T, Tanaka A, Amagai T, Imanishi J, Sano Y (1985) Characteristic distribution of noradrenergic terminals on the anterior horn motoneurons innervating the perineal striated muscles in the rat. Anat Embryol 171: 267–273
Kondo H, Kuramoto H, Wainer B, Yanaihara N (1985) Evidence for the coexistence of acetylcholine and enkephalin in the sympathetic preganglionic neurons of rats. Brain Res 335: 309–314
Kuhn RA (1950) Functional capacity of the isolated human spinal cord. Brain 73: 1–51
Kurtz RG, Santos R (1979) Supraspinal influences on the penile reflexes of the male rat: a comparison of the effects of copulation, spinal transection and cortical spreading depression. Horm Behav 12: 73–94
Langley JN, Anderson HK (1895) The innervation of the pelvic and adjoining viscera. J Physiol (Lond) 19: 71–130
Lee RL, Smith ER, Mas M, Davidson JM (1990) Effects of intrathecal administration of 8-OH-DPAT on genital reflexes and mating behavior in male rats. Physiol Behav 47: 665–669
Leipheimer RE, Sachs BD (1988) GABAergic regulation of penile reflexes and copulation in rats. Physiol Behav 42: 351–357
Lewis DI, Coote JH (1990) The influence of 5-hydroxytryptamine agonists and antagonists on identified sympathetic preganglionic neurones in the rat, in vivo, Br J Pharmacol 99: 667–672
Liu YC, Salamone JD, Sachs BD (1995) Differential role of three brain regions (MPOA, PVH, and NPGi) in rat erectile function. Soc Neurosci Abstr 21: 1464
Loewy AD (1981) Raphe pallidus and raphe obscurus projections to the intermediolateral cell column in the rat. Brain Res 222: 129–139
Loewy AD, McKellar S (1981) Serotoninergic projections from the ventral medulla to the intermediolateral cell column in the rat. Brain Res 211: 146–152
Loewy AD, Saper CB, Baker RP (1979) Descending projections from the pontine micturition center. Brain Res 172: 533–538
Luiten PGM, Horst GJ ter, Karst H, Steffens AB (1985) The course of paraventricular hypothalamic efferents to autonomic structures in medulla and spinal cord. Brain Res 329: 374–378
Lumia AR, Sachs BD, Meisel RL (1979) Spinal transection restores sexual reflexes of rats following suppression by penile sheath removal. Physiol Behav 23: 273–277
Marlier L, Teilhac JR, Cerruti C, Privat A (1991) Autoradiographic mapping of 5-HT1, 5-HTIA, 5-HTIB and 5HT2 receptors in the rat spinal cord. Brain Res 550: 15–23
Marson L, McKenna KE (1990) The identification of a brainstem site controlling spinal sexual reflexes in male rats. Brain Res 515: 303–308
Marson L, McKenna KE (1992) A role for 5-hydroxytryptamine in descending inhibition of spinal sexual reflexes. Exp Brain Res 88: 313–320
Marson L, McKenna KE (1994) Serotonergic neurotoxic lesions facilitate male sexual reflexes. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 47: 883–888
Marson L, List MS, McKenna KE (1992) Lesions of the nucleus paragigantocellularis alter ex copula penile reflexes. Brain Res 592: 187–192
Marson L, Platt KB, McKenna KE (1993) Central nervous system innervation of the penis as revealed by the transneuronal transport of pseudorabies virus. Neuroscience 55: 263–280
Mas M, Zahradnik MA, Martino V, Davidson JM (1985) Stimulation of spinal serotonergic receptors facilitates seminal emission and suppresses penile erectile reflexes. Brain Res 342: 128–134
Mathes CW, Smith ER, Popa BR, Davidson JM (1990) Effects of intrathecal and systemic administration of buspirone on genital reflexes and mating behavior in male rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 36: 63–68
Matsumoto A, Arnold AP, Zampighi GA, Micevych PE (1988) Androgenic regulation of gap junctions between motoneurons in the rat spinal cord. J Neurosci 8: 4177–4183
Matsumoto A, Arnold AP, Micevych PE (1989) Gap junctions between lateral spinal motoneurons in the rat. Brain Res 495: 362–366
Mawe GM, Breshnahan JC, Beattie MS (1984) Primary afferent projections from dorsal and ventral roots to autonomic preganglionic neurons in the cat sacral spinal cord: light and electron microscopic observations. Brain Res 290: 152–157
McCall RB (1983) Serotonergic excitation of sympathetic preganglionic neurons: a microiontophoretic study. Brain Res 289: 121–127
McKenna KE, Nadelhaft I (1986) The organization of the pudendal nerve in the male and female rat. J Comp Neurol 248: 532–549
McKenna KE, Nadelhaft I (1989) The pudendo-pudendal reflex in male and female rats. J Autonom Nerv Syst 27: 67–77
McKenna KE, Chung SK, McVary KT (1991) A model for the study of sexual function in anesthetized male and female rats. Am J Physiol 261: Rl276-R1285
McKenna KE, Marson L, List MS (1992) CNS cell groups projecting to the ischiocavernosus muscle transneuronally labelled with pseudorabies virus (PRV). Soc Neurosci Abstr 18: 128
McNeill DL, Papka RE, Harris CH (1992) CGRP immunoreactivity and NADPH-diaphorase in afferent nerves of the rat penis. Peptides 13: 1239–1246
Meisel RL, Sachs BD (1994) The physiology of male sexual behavior. In: Knobil E, Neill JD (eds) The physiology of reproduction, 2nd edn. Raven, New York, ch 35, pp 3–105
Micevych PE, Coquelin A, Arnold AP (1986) Immunohistochemical distribution of substance P, serotonin, and methionine enkephalin in sexually dimorphic nuclei of the rat lumbar spinal cord. J Comp Neurol 248: 235–244
Millan MJ, Millan MH, Czlonkowski A, Herz A (1984) Vasopressin and oxytocin in the rat spinal cord: distribution and origins in comparison to [Met] enkephalin, dynorphin and related opioids and their irresponsiveness to stimuli modulating neurohypohyseal secretion. Neuroscience 13: 179–187
Morgan C, Nadelhaft I, DeGroat WC (1981) The distribution of visceral primary afferents from the pelvic nerve to Lissauer's tract and the spinal gray matter and its relationship to the sacral parasympathetic nucleus. J Comp Neurol 201: 415–440
Morgan C, DeGroat WC, Nadelhaft I (1986) The spinal distribution of sympathetic preganglionic and visceral primary afferent neurons that send axons into the hypogastric nerves of the cat. J Comp Neurol 243: 23–40
Morgan CW, DeGroat WC, Felkins LA, Zhang SJ (1991) Axon collaterals indicate broad intraspinal role for sacral preganglionic neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88: 6888–6892
Morrison SF, Callaway J, Milner TA, Reis DJ (1989) Glutamate in the spinal sympathetic intermediolateral nucleus: localization by light and electron microscopy. Brain Res 503: 5–15
Nadelhaft I, Booth AM (1984) The location and morphology of preganglionic neurons and the distribution of visceral afferents from the rat pelvic nerve: a horseradish peroxidase study. J Comp Neurol 226: 238–245
Nadelhaft I, McKenna KE (1985) Sympathetic afferent and preganglionic neurons labelled by horseradish peroxidase applied to the hypogastric nerve and the sacral sympathetic chain of the rat. Soc Neurosci Abstr 11: 764
Nadelhaft I, McKenna KE (1987) Sexual dimorphism in sympathetic preganglionic neurons of the rat hypogastric nerve. J Comp Neurol 256: 308–315
Nadelhaft I, DeGroat WC, Morgan C (1980) Location and morphology of parasympathetic preganglionic neurons in the spinal cord of the cat revealed by retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase. J Comp Neurol 193: 265–281
Nadelhaft I, Roppolo J, Morgan C, DeGroat WC (1983) Parasympathetic preganglionic neurons and visceral primary afferents in the monkey sacral spinal cord revealed following the application of horseradish peroxidase to the pelvic nerve. J Comp Neurol 216: 36–52
Newton BW, Hamill RW (1991) Neuropeptide Y immunoreactivity is preferentially located in rat lumbar sexually dimorphic nuclei. Neurosci Lett 94: 10–16
Newton BW, Maley BE, Hamill RW (1986) Immunohistochemical demonstration of serotonin neurons in the autonomic regions of the rat spinal cord. Brain Res 376: 155–163
Nilaver G, Zimmerman EA, Wilkins J, Michaels J, Hoffman D, Silverman AJ (1980) Magnocellular hypothalamic projections to the lower brainstem and spinal cord of the rat. Neuroendocrinology 30: 150–158
Nordeen E, Nordeen K, Sengelaub D, Arnold AP (1985) Androgens prevent normally-occurring cell death in a sexually dimorphic spinal nucleus. Science 229: 671–673
Nunez R, Gross GH, Sachs BD (1986) Origin and projections of rat dorsal penile nerve: possible direct projections to autonomic and somatic neurons by primary afferents of nonmuscle origin. J Comp Neurol 247: 417–429
Nygren LG, Olson L (1977) A new major projection from locus coeruleus: the main source of noradrenergic nerve terminals in the ventral and dorsal columns of the spinal cord. Brain Res 132: 85–93
Pehek EA, Thompson JT, Hull EM (1989) The effects of intrathecal administration of the dopamine agonist apomorphine on penile reflexes and copulation in the male rat. Psychopharmacology 99: 304–308
Peng Y, Kohno J, Shinoda K, Kawai Y, Ono K, Jiang W, Shiotani Y (1989) Interaction between cholinergic neurons and substance P or calcitonin gene-related peptide terminals of the rat sacral intermediolateral nucleus: double immunostaining at the light and electron microscopic levels. J Comp Neurol 285: 1–8
Pescatori ES, Calabro A, Artibani W, Pagano F, Triban C, Italiano G (1993) Electrical stimulation of the dorsal nerve of the penis evokes reflex tonic erections of the penile body and reflex ejaculatory responses in the spinal rat. J Urol 149: 627–632
Pickering AE, Spanswick D, Logan SD (1994) 5-Hydroxytryptamine evokes depolarizations and membrane potential oscillations in rat sympathetic preganglionic neurones. J Physiol (Lond) 480: 109–121
Rajaofetra N, Passagia JG, Marlier L, Poulat P, Pellas F, Sandillon F, Verschuere B, Gouy D, Geffard M, Privat A (1992) Serotoninergic, noradrenergic, and peptidergic in nervation of OnuPs nucleus of normal and transected spinal cords of baboons (Papio papio). J Comp Neurol 318: 1–17
Rajaofetra N, Poulat P, Marlier L, Geffard M, Privat A (1992) Pre- and postnatal development of noradrenergic projections to the rat spinal cord: an immunocytochemical study. Dev Brain Res 67: 237–246
Rampin O, Giuliano F, Dompeyre P, Rousseau JP (1994) Physiological evidence of neural pathways involved in reflexogenic penile erection in the rat. Neurosci Lett 180: 138–142
Rampin O, Gougis S, Giuliano F, Rousseau JP (1995) Stimulation of the dorsal nerve of the penis increasesc-fos expression in spinal neurons in the rat. Soc Neurosci Abstr 21: 1876
Rampin O, Bernabé J, Rousseau JP (1996) Effects of the NMDA glutamatergic receptor antagonist MK-801 on reflexive erections in the rat. Soc Neurosci Abstr 22: 1053
Reiter MK, Kremarik P, Freund-Mercier MJ, Stoeckel ME, Desaulles E, Feltz P (1994) Localization of oxytocin binding sites in the thoracic and upper lumbar spinal cord of the adult and postnatal rat: a histoautoradiographic study. Eur J Neurosci 6: 98–104
Romagnono MA, Hamill RW (1985) Spinal parasympathetic enkephalin fibers: patterns and projections. Brain Res 335: 174–181
Root WS, Bard P (1947) The mediation of feline erection through sympathetic pathways with some remarks on sexual behavior after deafferentation of the genitalia. Am J Physiol 151: 80–90
Rose RD, Collins WF III (1985) Crossing dendrites may be a substrate for synchronized activation of penile motoneurons. Brain Res 337: 373–377
Rousselot P, Papadopoulos G, Merighi A, Poulain DA, Theodosis DT (1990) Oxytocinergic innervation of the rat spinal cord. Brain Res 529: 178–184
Ryall RW, DeGroat WC (1972) The microclectrophoretic administration of noradrenaline, 5-hydroxytryptamine, acetylcholine and glycine to sacral parasympathetic neurones. Brain Res 37: 345–347
Sachs BD (1982) Role of striated penile muscles in penile reflexes, copulation, and induction of pregnancy in the rat. J Reprod Fertil 66: 433–443
Sachs BD (1995) Placing erection in context: the reflexogenicpsychogenic dichotomy reconsidered. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 19: 211–224
Sachs BD, Bitran D (1990) Spinal block reveals roles for brain and spinal cord in the mediation of reflexive erection in rats. Brain Res 528: 99–108
Sachs BD, Garinello LD (1979) Spinal pacemaker controlling sexual reflexes in male rats. Brain Res 171: 152–156
Sachs BD, Garinello LD (1980) Hypothetical pacemaker regulating penile reflexes in rats: evidence from transection of spinal cord and dorsal penile nerves. J Comp Physiol Psychol 94:530–535
Sachs BD, Liu YC (1991) Maintenance of erection of penile glans, but not penile body, after transection of rat cavernous nerves. J Urol 146: 900–905
Saito S, Kidd GJ, Trapp BD, Dawson TM, Bredt DS, Wilson DA, Traystman RJ, Snyder SH, Hanley DF (1994) Rat spinal cord neurons contain nitric oxide synthase. Neuroscience 59: 447–456
Samson MD, Krishna Reddy V (1982) Localization of the sacral parasympathetic nucleus in the dog. Am J Vet Res 43: 1833–1836
Saper CB, Loewy AD, Swanson LW, Cowan WM (1976) Direct hypothaammo-autonomic connections. Brain Res 117: 305–312
Sasek CA, Elde RP (1985) Distribution of neuropeptide Ylike immunoreactivity and its relationship to FMRF-amidelike immunoreactivity in the sixth lumbar and first sacral spinal cord segments of the rat. J Neurosci 5: 1729–1739
Sasek CA, Seybold VS, Elde RP (1984) The immunohistochemical localization of nine peptides in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus and the dorsal gray commissure in rat spinal cord. Neuroscience 12: 855–873
Sawchenko PE, Swanson LW (1982) Immunchistochemical identification of neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus that project to the medulla or to the spinal cord in the rat. J Comp Neurol 205: 260–272
Schmidt MH, Schmidt HS (1993) The ischiocavernosus and bulbospongiosus muscles in mammalian penile rigidity. Sleep 16: 171–183
Schoenen J, Lotstra F, Vierendeels G, Reznik M, Vanderhaeghen JJ (1985) Substance P, enkephalins, somatostatin, cholecystokinin, oxytocin, and vasopressin in human spinal cord. Neurology 35: 881–890
Schroder HD (1980) Organization of the motoneurons innervating the pelvic muscles of the male rat. J Comp Neurol 192:567–587
Schroder HD (1983) Localization of cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity in the rat spinal cord, with particular reference to the autonomic innervation of the pelvic organs. J Comp Neurol 217: 176–186
Schroder HD (1984) Somatostatin in the caudal spinal cord: an immunohistochemical study of the spinal centers involved in the innervation of pelvic organs. J Comp Neurol 233: 400–414
Semans JH, Langworthy OR (1938) Observations on the neurophysiology of sexual function in the male cat. J Urol 40: 836–846
Senba E, Tohyama M (1988) Calcitonin gene-related peptide containing autonomic efferent pathways to the pelvic ganglia of the rat. Brain Res 449: 386–390
Sermasi E, Coote JH (1994) Oxytocin acts via VI receptors to excite sympathetic neurones in neonate rat spinal cord in vitro. Brain Res 647: 323–332
Skajerberg G, Björklund A, Lindvall O, Schmidt RH (1982) Origin and termination of the diencephalio-spinal dopamine system in the rat. Brain Res Bull 9: 237–244
Skajerberg R, Björklund A (1985) Topographic principles in the spinal projections of serotonergic and non-serotonergic brainstem neurons in the rat. Neuroscience 15: 445–480
Skajerberg R, Lindvall O (1985) Organization of diencephalic dopamine neurons projecting to the spinal cord of the rat. Brain Res 342: 340–351
Smith ER, Lee RL, Schnur SL, Davidson JM (1987) Alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonists and male sexual behavior. I. Mating behavior. Physiol Behav 41: 1–14
Smith ER, Lee RL, Schnur SL, Davidson JM (1987) Alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonists and male sexual behavior. 11. Erectile and ejaculatory reflexes. Physiol Behav 41: 15–19
Smith ER, Cetrulo EJ, Donahue JP, Sparrow H, Davidson JM, Hoffman BB, Clark JT (1995) The inhibitory effects of propranolol on genital reflexes in male rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 52: 541–546
Steers WD, DeGroat WC (1989) Effects of m-chlorophenylpiperazine on penile and bladder function in rats. Am J Physiol 257: R1441-R1449
Steers WD, Mallory B, DeGroat WC (1988) Electrophysiological study of neural activity in penile nerve of the rat. Am J Physiol 254: R989-R1000
Stefanick ML, Smith ER, Clark JT, Davidson JM (1982) Effects of a potent dopamine receptor agonist. RDS-127, on penile reflexes and seminal emission in intact and spinally transected rats. Physiol Behav 29: 973–978
Steinbusch H (1981) Distribution of serotonin-immunoreactivity in the central nervous system of the rat — cell bodies and terminals. Neuroscience 6: 557–618
Svenson L, Hansen S (1984) Spinal monoaminergic modulation of masculine copulatory behavior in the rat. Brain Res 302: 315–321
Swanson LW, McKellar S (1979) The distribution of oxytocin- and neurophysin-stained fibers in the spinal cord of the rat and monkey. J Comp Neurol 188: 87–106
Tang Y, Giuliano F, Rampin O, Rousseau JP, Calas A (1995) Oxytocinergic innervation of the sacral parasympathetic nucleus in the male rat. Soc Neurosci Abstr 21: 1874
Tang Y, Giuliano F, Rampin O, Calas A, Benoit G, Jardin A (1996) Evidence for synaptic contacts between serotonergic fibers and somatic and autonomic motoneurons in the rat lumbosacral spinal cord. Eur Urol 30 (S2): 23
Tappaz ML, Zivin JA, Kopin IJ (1976) Intraspinal glutamic decarboxylase distribution after transection of the cord at the thoracic level. Brain Res 111: 220–223
Tashiro T, Satoda T, Matsushima R, Mizuno N (1989) Convergence of serotonin-, enkephalin- and substance P-like immunoreactive afferent fibers on single pudendal moto neurons in OnuPs nucleus of the cat: a light microscope study combining the triple immunocytochemical staining technique with the retrograde HRP-tracing method. Brain Res 481: 392–398
Thor KB, Nickolaus S, Helke CJ (1993) Autoradiographic localization of 5-hydroxytryptaminelA, 5-hydroxytryptamine1B and 5-hydroxytryptamineIC/2 binding sites in the rat spinal cord. Neuroscience 55: 235–252
Tucker DC, Saper CB (1985) Specificity of spinal projections from hypothalamic and brainstem areas with innervate sympathetic preganglionic neurons. Brain Res 360: 159–164
Valtschanoff JG, Weinberg RJ, Rustioni A (1992) NADPH diaphorase in the spinal cord of rats. J Comp Neurol 321: 209–222
Veronneau-Longueville F, Giuliano F, Rampin O, Freund-Mercier MJ, Calas A (1996) Histoautoradiographical evidence for oxytocinergic (OT) receptors in the lumbosacral spinal cord of the male rat. Soc Neurosci Abstr 22: 1052
Vizzard MA, Erdman SL, DeGroat WC (1993) Localization of NADPH-diaphorase in pelvic afferent and efferent pathways of the rat. Neurosci Lett 152: 72–76
Vizzard MA, Erdman SL, Förstermann U, DeGroat WC (1994) Ontogeny of nitric oxide synthase in the lumbosacral spinal cord of the neonatal rat. Dev Brain Res 81: 201–217
Vizzard MA, Erdman SL, Roppolo JR, Förstermann U, DeGroat WC (1994) Differential localization of neuronal nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity and NADPH-diaphor ase activity in the cat spinal cord. Cell Tissue Res 278: 299–309
Wagner CK, Clemens LG (1991) Projections of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus to the sexually dimorphic lumbosacral region of the spinal cord. Brain Res 539: 254–262
Westlund KN, Bowker RM, Ziegler MG, Coulter JD (1983) Noradrenergic projections to the spinal cord of the rat.Brain Res 236: 15–31
Westlund KN, Bowker RM, Ziegler MG, Coulter JD (1984) Origins and terminations of descending noradrenergic projections to the spinal cord of monkey. Brain Res 292: 1–16
White JD, Krause JE, McKelvy JF (1986) In vivo biosynthesis and transport of oxytocin, vasopressin and neurophysin from the hypothalamus to the spinal cord. Neuroscience 17: 133–140
Whitelaw GP, Smithwick RH (1951) Some secondary effects of sympathectomy with particular references to disturbances of sexual functions. N Engl J Med 245: 121–130
Wiesenfeld-Hallin J, Södersten P (1984) Spinal opiates affect sexual behavior in rats. Nature 309: 257–258
Wu W, Elde R, Wessendorf MW (1993) Organization of the serotoninergic innervation of spinal neurons in rats. III. Differential serotoninergic innervation of somatic and para sympathetic preganglionic motoneurons as determined by patterns of co-existing peptides. Neuroscience 55: 223–233
Yoshimura M, Polosa C, Nishi S (1987) Slow EPSP and the depolarizing action of noradrenaline on sympathetic preganglionic neurons. Brain Res 414: 138–142
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rampin, O., Bernabé, J. & Giuliano, F. Spinal control of penile erection. World J Urol 15, 2–13 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275150
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275150