The iconic homunculus map, showing how the human body is represented in the brain, is clearly male: The drawing, published in 1950, depicts a penis deep within the medial wall of the cortex. Female anatomy, including the breasts, vagina, and clitoris, is omitted. Exactly where in the brain sensations felt in female genitalia are processed is still debated, but a study published this week (December 20) in The Journal of Neuroscience puts forward the lateral wall of the somatosensory cortex as a likely location. The study also finds that the size of the brain region that activates in response to clitoral stimulation correlates with self-reported frequency of sexual intercourse.
The paper is a step “toward understanding something unique about the female brain,” says cognitive neuroscientist Gillian Einstein of the University of Toronto who was not involved in the study.
The 1950 somatosensory homunculus was based on experiments by neurosurgeon Wilder ...
