Variation in Brain Subcortical Network Topology Between Men With and Without PE: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Premature ejaculation (PE) is a highly prevalent male sexual dysfunction. Previous studies have found abnormal activity in the sympathetic nervous system and penile sensory pathway of PE. Few studies have investigated the neural mechanisms underlying PE.

The aim of this study was to examine whether the altered cortico-subcortical network topological properties of the brain white matter structural network could be used to differentiate patients with PE from healthy control (HC) subjects.

Diffusion tensor images data were collected from 32 patients with PE and 35 HC participants. Then, brain white matter structural networks were reconstructed from image acquisition.

Furthermore, nodal measures were calculated and hub regions were identified using the graph-theoretical methods.

For cortical brain regions, increased strength, global efficiency, and decreased shortest path length were found in the right superior frontal gyrus (medial), and superior frontal gyrus (medial orbital) were found in patients with PE. In addition, patients with PE also showed decreased strength in the right rolandic operculum and decreased shortest path length, and increased global efficiency in the right inferior frontal gyrus (triangular part). For subcortical brain structures, patients with PE were associated with decreased shortest path length and increased global efficiency in the left insula and right caudate nucleus. Finally, the results showed that 9 PE-specific hub regions were identified in patients compared with HCs, including 7 cortical regions and 2 subcortical regions.

Our results provide new understanding about the pathology of PE and enhances the understanding of PE pathology.

Our results offer biological markers for understanding the physiopathology of PE. However, our study is a cross-sectional design, longitudinal design studies need to explore the causal relationships between aberrant topological characteristics and PE.

Our results provide new insights into the neural mechanism of PE involving cortico-subcortical network changes, which could serve as a potential biomarker to differentiate individuals with PE from HCs. Chen J, Yang J, Huang X, et al. Variation in Brain Subcortical Network Topology Between Men With and Without PE: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study. J Sex Med 2020;17:48-59.