Scientists mapped all the nerves of the clitoris for the first time

New research offers a closer look at one of the least-studied organs in the human body: the clitoris, the structure responsible for female sexual pleasure.

Once described by a 16th-century anatomist as the "shameful member," the clitoris has historically been ignored in research in part due to taboo. Additionally, dissecting clitoral nerve tissue is challenging due to its position in relation to the surrounding pelvic organs.

In recent decades, MRI studies have characterized the overall structure of the clitoris. But only now have researchers captured clitoral nerves in three dimensions and at micron-scale resolution, thanks to an X-ray that uses an extremely bright light source called a synchrotron.

"Our research was able to show different parts of the clitoris," lead study author Dr. Ju Young Lee, a postdoctoral researcher at Amsterdam University Medical Centers, told Live Science in an email. She and her collaborators imaged two pelvises that had been donated postmortem to the university. The project was part of the Human Organ Atlas initiative, which aims to render whole organs in fine detail.

Their findings, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, were published March 20 on the preprint server bioRxiv.

Using CT images, the researchers traced the dorsal nerve of the clitoris (DNC) — the organ's main sensory nerve — from its origin point in a larger pelvic nerve structure. While prior studies reported that the DNC tapers off as it nears the clitoral glans, the external portion of the clitoris, the new imaging instead reveals that the DNC extends a robust array of branches into the glans. The DNC also splits off toward the mons pubis (the fatty tissue over the pubic joint) and the clitoral hood.

This work could be used to improve reconstructive procedures to restore the clitoris and clitoral function in patients who have experienced female genital mutilation, the study authors wrote. These procedures, which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, are carried out mostly on young girls between infancy and age 15, can cause serious medical complications, and are considered a human rights violation, the World Health Organization states.

The new study may also help surgeons avoid damaging clitoral nerves during other operations on or near the vulva, the authors added.

Dodging nerve damage is key, since there is typically little overlap between surgeons trained to operate on genitals and those who treat peripheral nerves, said Dr. Blair Peters, an associate professor of surgery in the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine. Peters, who specializes in genital nerve procedures, and his colleagues published a tally of all 10,000 nerves in the human clitoris in 2022.

Although Peters was not involved with the new study, he told Live Science that the results align with his own observations.

"I have the privilege of actually seeing these things with my own eye," Peters said. Until now, "that hasn't been quantified in any meaningful way in the medical literature."

Peters added that medical recognition of the importance of genital nerves is on the rise, informed in part by insights from gender-affirming surgeries. However, more progress is needed.

"We have peripheral nerve treatments for everything else from head to toe, but the genital region is like a black box that's been unexplored," Peters said. "This anatomic work is super important to better treat a lot of medical conditions that for the most part have very limited options."

Lee said she hopes to expand her research to a larger sample size that covers a broader age range. Both of the imaged pelvises featured in the new work came from postmenopausal organ donors.

"I see this work as the beginning of a long journey for a new clitoris science," she said.