Brain lesions affect penile reflexes

Abstract

Electrolytic lesions of several potential brain afferents to the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) affect the display of penile reflexes. Ablation of the median and pontine raphe areas significantly potentiates the expression of cups and flips. Animals with a bilateral lesion of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus have a shorter latency to the first erection but otherwise display normal reflex behavior. Although bilateral destruction of the lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) completely eliminated penile reflex activity, it also caused significant motor impairment thus clouding conclusions concerning the normal role of the LVN in penile reflex behavior. These and other results support the hypothesis that these brain regions which project to the SNB region normally modulate spinal reflex behavior of the rat penis.