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Sexual Dysfunction in Neurological Disease
Book chapter

Sexual Dysfunction in Neurological Disease

Elliott L. Mancall, Robert J. Alonso and Wendy B. Marlowe
Diagnosis and Treatment of Erectile Disturbances, pp 65-85
1985
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9409-3_3

Abstract

Sexual Function Spinal Cord Temporal Lobe Multiple Sclerosis Spinal Cord Injury
Disorders of sexual function in the human result from a remarkable variety of structural lesions involving the nervous system. Sexual dysfunction is widely recognized as a reflection of disorders of the peripheral nervous system and of the spinal cord; however, it is less widely appreciated that lesions of the cerebral hemispheres may also produce changes in this respect, at times so startling, dramatic, or bizarre as to be regarded, albeit inappropriately, as psychogenic in origin. It is tempting to suggest a simple dichotomy in this respect: lesions in the peripheral nervous system might be expected to induce disorders of potency, involving erection, ejaculation, or both, whereas lesions of the central nervous system, and particularly of the cerebral hemispheres, might be anticipated to result in disorders of libido, i.e., of sexual energy and desire. This division may be valid to a point but, as will be seen, does not really hold up to critical scrutiny, and in general, one cannot determine with certainty, on the basis of the type of sexual disorder alone, the site of neural involvement in any given patient.

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