A U.S. gynecologist claims to have found the G-spot, a supposed pleasure center on the front interior wall of the vagina, but some critics say not so fast.
In a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine on Wednesday, Adam Ostrzenski said he has confirmed the presence of the G-spot after extracting a tiny "well-delineated sac structure" from inside an 83-year-old cadaver.
"This study confirmed the anatomic existence of the G-spot, which may lead to a better understanding and improvement of female sexual function," said Ostrzenski, of the Institute of Gynecology in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The journal's editor-in-chief Irwin Goldstein said the finding "adds to the growing body of literature regarding women's sexual anatomy and physiology."
The G-spot, named after German gynecologist Ernst Graefenberg, who first mooted its existence in 1950, is said to be a highly sensitive area in the vagina that, when stimulated, gives a woman a powerful orgasm.
But where the G-spot is located has been clouded by evidence that is subjective or contradictory, and some experts argue it does not exist.
Critics have cast doubt on the latest finding as well, noting that the supposed G-spot only seems to provide arousal for some women and that its importance may be overstated by sex product marketers.
"It's a single case study involving the dissection of the body of one woman whose sexual experiences are unknown to us," sex researcher Debby Herbenick wrote in a critique on the Daily Beast, an online magazine.
"Did she enjoy vaginal penetration? Did she find G-spot stimulation to be pleasurable or erotic or more or less likely to lead to orgasm? We don't know."
In 2008, the same journal published an article by an Italian researcher who used an ultrasound to scan the vaginal area on nine women who claimed to experience vaginal orgasms and 11 who said they did not.
That study concluded that the anatomical feature exists, but that only some women have it. Critics countered that it was unclear whether the purported G-spot was a new structure or simply an extension of the clitoris.
Herbenick insists the verdict is still out, and that the latest finding in itself adds little to the research.
"We don't know how many women (if any) have similar structures. And we certainly don't know if the structure has anything to do with G-Spot stimulation, sexual pleasure, erotic sensations or orgasm," she writes.
"It's not like body parts come with pre-labeled signs indicating what they are -- and calling this structure the 'G-spot' doesn't make it so."
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