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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that for the first time, stimulation of the vagina, cervix, or clitoris was shown to activate three separate and distinct sites in the sensory cortex.
Some sexuality experts have claimed that the major source of genital sensation is from the clitoris, with relatively little sensation produced by vaginal or cervical stimulation.
Researchers led by Barry R. Komisaruk, B.S., Ph.D., of Rutgers University, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map sensory cortical responses to clitoral, vaginal, cervical, and nipple self-stimulation in 11 healthy women, ages 23-56. For points of reference on the homunculus (also referred to as the “point-to-point body map” or a diagram showing where nerves from different parts of the body are represented in the brain) researchers also mapped responses to stimulation of the thumb and great toe.
Results found that stimulation of each of these genital regions in fact produces a significant and strong activation of specific and different sites in the sensory cortex.
The three representations are clustered in the same sensory cortical region as the genitals of men on the homunculus.
Nipple self-stimulation activated not only the chest region of the homunculus as expected, but also surprisingly the genital region of the sensory homunculus, suggesting a neurological basis for women’s reports that nipple stimulation feels erotic.
“Our findings demonstrate undeniably that there is a major input to the sensory cortex in response to stimulation of not only the clitoris, but of the vagina and cervix as well, which also evidently receive a significant and substantial sensory nerve supply,” Komisaruk concludes. “This lays the groundwork for an understanding of how genital stimulation spreads sequentially through the brain from initial activation of the sensory cortex to eventually activate the brain regions that produce orgasm.”
Irwin Goldstein, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, further explained the enormous significance of this ground breaking sexual medicine research. “In the 1930’s-1950’s, researchers localized in the brain exactly where all sensations in man were represented, including male genitalia. Data regarding location of clitoral sensation were only studied in 2010, some sixty years later. This current study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals, for the first time, brain sensation localization data not only from the clitoris, but from the vagina, cervix and nipples. Being able to demonstrate the multiple locations in the brain where stimulation of different female genital regions are represented and how these brain locations inter-relate helps us to better understand women’s sexual function.”
This study is published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact [email protected]
Full citation: Komisaruk et al. Women’s Clitoris, Vagina, and Cervix Mapped on the Sensory Cortex: fMRI Evidence. The Journal of Sexual Medicine; http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02388.x
About the Author: Barry R. Komisaruk, BS, PhD, is affiliated with Rutgers University.
To arrange an interview with an author, please contact Dr. Komisaruk at [email protected]
About the Journal
The Journal of Sexual Medicine is a peer-reviewed publication founded in 2004 and is the official journal of the International Society for Sexual Medicine, its four regional affiliated societies and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. It publishes multi-disciplinary basic science and clinical research to define and understand the scientific basis of male and female sexual function and dysfunction and carries an Impact Factor of 3.957. For more information, please visit www.jsm.issm.info. The International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) was founded in 1982 for the purpose of promoting, throughout the international scientific community, research and knowledge in sexual medicine, considered as the subspecialty area of medicine that embraces the study, diagnosis and treatment of the sexual health concerns of men and women. The society has over 2700 members worldwide, with four regional societies that are affiliated with ISSM: the Asia Pacific Society for Sexual Medicine, European Society for Sexual Medicine, Latin American Society for Sexual Medicine, and Sexual Medicine Society of North America. For more information please visit www.issm.info. NEW! Download The JSM mobile app for free to your smart phone or iPad at http://bit.ly/hCHhPU and keep up with the latest research published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
About Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, with strengths in every major academic and professional field and partnerships with many of the world’s leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell publishes nearly 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols. For more information, please visit www.wileyblackwell.com or our new online platform, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), one of the world’s most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities.
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