The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

by Norman Doidge

Ramachandran argued that the claim made perfect neuroscientific sense. The Penfield brain map shows the genitals next to the feet, and since the feet no longer receive input, the genital maps likely invade the foot maps, so when the genitals experience pleasure, so do the phantom feet. Ramachandran began to wonder whether some people’s erotic preoccupation with feet, or foot fetishes, might be due in part to the proximity of feet and genitals on the brain map. Other erotic enigmas fell into place. An Italian physician, Dr. Salvatore Aglioti, reported that some women who have had mastectomies experience sexual excitement when their ears, clavicles, and sternums are stimulated. All three are close to nipples on the brain map. Some men with carcinoma of the penis who have had their penises amputated experience not only phantom penises but phantom erections.

possible fetishes and overly "non-sexual" body part sensitivity