Penile erection is a highly specialized vascular biologic process that requires regulatory control. Among the regulatory mechanisms contributing to this regulation, the nervous system is perceived to be the primary regulatory mechanism affording this control. Multiple levels of the neuroaxis, from the brain and spinal cord to nerves terminating within the penis, originate and relay neurochemical impulses that produce the erectile response. At the same time, it is known that androgens exert prominent roles in the development and maintenance of assorted neuronal circuits involved in male sexual function. These roles are exerted both at central and peripheral nervous system levels. The study of androgenic effects has primarily examined central mechanisms, with a focus on sexual differentiation of the vertebrate brain. Cellular mechanisms under androgenic control include neurogenesis, cell differentiation, cell migration, synapse formation, synapse elimination, and cell death. Additional emphasis has been given recently to androgenic effects on peripheral neuronal pathways. Characterization of androgenic effects on peripheral neurons has primarily pertained to structural and biochemical changes occurring most notably at puberty and after castration, although recent investigation has also identified electrophysiologic changes amid these perturbations. This presentation provides a brief contemporary review of the neural control of penile erection at central and peripheral levels, with special consideration given to the androgenic influence on the neuroanatomy, neural pathways, and neurological mechanisms involved in the erectile response. Accordingly, the extent to which androgens exert a humoral regulatory basis on the primary control system for erection will be assessed. Insights drawn from this review may reveal whether pharmacotherapeutic interventions involving the nervous system using testosterone supplementation are possible to treat male erectile dysfunction. It is recognized that most of the knowledge base regarding this subject matter is derived from laboratory