Title
Activation of mirror-neuron system by erotic video clips predicts degree of induced erection: an fMRI study.
Abstract
Although visually-induced erection is a common occurrence in human male behaviour, the cerebral underpinnings of this response are not well-known. We hypothesized that the magnitude of induced erection would be linearly correlated with the activation of the mirror-neuron system in response to sexually explicit films. When presented with sexual video clips, eight out of ten healthy subjects had an erectile response demonstrated through volumetric penile plethysmography. The level of activation of the left frontal operculum and of the inferior parietal lobules, areas which contain mirror neurons, predicted the magnitude of the erectile response. These results suggest that the response of the mirror-neuron system may not only code for the motor correlates of observed actions, but also for autonomic correlates of these actions.
Year
DOI
Venue
2008
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.05.051
NeuroImage
Keywords
Field
DocType
VSS,VPP,BA
Penile plethysmography,Developmental psychology,Anatomy,Parietal Lobules,Mirror neuron,Psychology,Frontal operculum,CLIPS
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
42
3
1053-8119
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
3
0.54
7
Authors
8
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
H Mouras181.15
S Stoléru281.15
V Moulier381.15
M Pélégrini-Issac4726.32
R Rouxel581.15
B Grandjean630.54
D Glutron781.15
J Bittoun8175.15