Table 2 Key brain regions mediating human sexual behaviour.

Key brain regions	Sexual function	Psychosurgery/ neurosurgery/ stimulation	Seizure related	Other: case studies	Neuroimaging
Subcortical
Septal region	Pleasurable response and orgasm	Heath (1964, 1972)7,8 Gorman (1992)10
Hypothalamus	Neuroendocrine and autonomic aspects of sexual drive, sexual orientation	Roeder (1972)14		Poeck (1965)15, Ortego (1993)16	Hamann (2004),18 Redoute (2000),19 Beauregard (2001),20 Ferretti (2005)21
Ansa lenticularis and pallidus	Sexual drive alibido/ hypersexuality	Meyers (1961, 1962),22,23 Mendez (2004)24
Cortical
Frontal lobes	Motor components of sexual behaviour, control of sexual response (disinhibition)	Freeman (1943),27 Levine (1951)28	Spencer (1983),30 Williamson (1985),31 Leutmetzer (1999)32		Hamann (2004),18 Redoute (2000),19 Ferretti (2005),21 Tiihonen (1994),33 Karama (2002)34
Parietal lobes: paracentral lobule	Genital sensation	Bates (1953),40 Penfield (1950)42	Toone (1991, 1995),35,36 Ruff (1980),37 Erickson (1945),38 Bancaud (1970)39
Temporal lobes: amygdala	Sexual orientation, sexual disorders (eg, paraphilias), sexual drive (hypo/hypersexuality, impotence)	Gloor (1986),85 Kim (1972)93	Bancaud (1970),39 Mitchell (1954),50 Gastaut (1954),56 Blumer (1967),57 Remillard (1983),65 Baird (2003),76	Terzian (1955),46 Marlowe (1975),47 Lilly (1983),48 Kolarsky (1967),54 Mendez (2000)55	Hamann (2004),18 Redoute (2000),19 Beauregard (2001),20 Ferretti (2005),21 Baird (2004),83 Holstege (2003)89