The missing female homunculus

Abstract

The somatosensory homunculus shows an exaggerated human figure that illustrates the proportion of the brain devoted to the sense of touch in each part of the body. Originally based on Wilder Penfield’s brain mapping, it has been presented as a drawing of a human figure along the somatosensory cortex, an independent human figure and a sculpted figure. Until recently, these homunculi have been male due to the lack of information on the female somatosensory cortex. A few female homunculi have been drawn. Based on more current brain research, the authors present, to their knowledge, the first sculpted 3D female somatosensory homunculus.