The clitoris is a historically understudied part of human anatomy. Despite its significant role in sexual pleasure and functioning in women, accurate descriptions of this organ are difficult to find. In fact, the lack of scientific information on the clitoris may be due in part to the persisting taboo around female sexuality and pleasure.

Recently, researchers in the field of women’s sexual health have made big strides in shedding light on the anatomy and function of the clitoris. While mainstream media has frequently reported that there are “8,000 nerve endings” in the clitoris, this number was derived from animal studies, not studies on the human clitoris. Until now, no study has actually quantified the number of nerve fibers in the human clitoris.

The dorsal nerves of the clitoris (DNCs) are the primary source of sensation in the clitoris. Therefore, researchers in a recent study sought to determine the average number of nerve fibers (axons) in the human DNCs to find out the approximate number of nerve fibers in the human clitoris.

For this study, DNC samples were taken from seven transmasculine patients who were undergoing gender-affirming phalloplasty surgery. Two of the samples did not have enough nerve tissue present to analyze, so in the end, the researchers counted the nerve fibers in five samples.

The five samples had 5,189, 5,023, 5,543, 5,021, and 4,926 axons total, so the average number of nerve fibers among these five DNC samples was 5,140. However, since DNCs have two symmetrical sides, this number had to be doubled to find the average number of nerve fibers in the human clitoris: 10,280.

With 10,280 nerve fibers, the human clitoris has far more nerve endings than previously thought. The results of this study go a long way toward providing a more accurate description of the clitoris for future research, educational purposes, and medical procedures that involve altering or reconstructing the clitoris.

References:

• Uloko, M., Isabey, E. P., & Peters, B. R. (2023). How many nerve fibers innervate the human glans clitoris: a histomorphometric evaluation of the dorsal nerve of the clitoris. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 20(3), 247-252. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdac027