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About The Erection Process
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ABOUT the Erection Process
Thenormal physiology of achieving and maintaining an erection involves a complexinteraction of physiological processes. Sexual arousal results in excitatorysignals to the nervous system resulting in a release of nitric oxide in thecorpus cavernosum (i.e., spongy erectile tissue of the penis). Nitric oxidediffuses into the smooth muscle cells lining the arteries of the corpuscavernosum, thereby relaxing vascular and trabecular smooth muscle cells. Therelaxation of the smooth muscles lining the penile arteries allows thesearteries of the corpus cavernosum to become engorged with blood, compressingthe veins that drain blood from the penis and, as a result, trapping bloodwithin the corpus cavernosum to produce an erection.
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