Editing Pudendal nerve (section)

==Function==
The pudendal nerve has both motor (control of muscles) and sensory functions. It also carries [[Sympathetic nervous system|sympathetic]] autonomic fibers (but not [[Parasympathetic nervous system|parasympathetic]] fibers).<ref name="Kaur2022">{{cite book |last1=Kaur |first1=J |last2=Leslie |first2=SW |last3=Singh |first3=P |title=Pudendal Nerve Entrapment Syndrome. |date=January 2022 |publisher=StatPearls |pmid=31334992 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544272/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Neill|first=editor-in-chief, Jimmy D.|title=Knobil and Neill's physiology of reproduction|year=2006|publisher=Elsevier|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-0-12-515400-0|edition=3rd}}</ref>{{rp|1738}}

=== Sensory ===
The pudendal nerve supplies sensation to the [[Human penis|penis]] in males, and to the [[clitoris]] in females, which travels through the branches of both the [[dorsal nerve of the penis]] and the [[dorsal nerve of the clitoris]].<ref name="GRAYS2005" />{{rp|422}} The posterior [[scrotum]] in males and the [[labia majora]] in females are also supplied, via the [[posterior scrotal nerves]] (males) or [[posterior labial nerves]] (females). The pudendal nerve is one of several nerves supplying sensation to these areas.<ref name="ORT2007">{{cite book|last=Ort|first=Bruce Ian Bogart, Victoria|title=Elsevier's integrated anatomy and embryology|year=2007|publisher=Elsevier Saunders|location=Philadelphia, Pa.|isbn=978-1-4160-3165-9}}|page=Neurovascular Bundles of the Perineum</ref> Branches also supply sensation to the [[anal canal]].<ref name="ASCRStextbook" />{{rp|8}} By providing sensation to the penis and the clitoris, the pudendal nerve is responsible for the [[Afferent nerve fiber|afferent]] component of [[penile erection]] and [[clitoral erection]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Babayan|first=Mike B. Siroky, Robert D. Oates, Richard K.|title=Handbook of urology diagnosis and therapy|year=2004|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=978-0-7817-4221-4|edition=3rd}}</ref> {{rp|147}}

=== Motor ===
Branches [[innervate]] muscles of the [[perineum]] and the [[pelvic floor]]; namely, the [[Bulbospongiosus muscle|bulbospongiosus]] and the [[ischiocavernosus muscle|ischiocavernosus]] muscles respectively<ref name="ORT2007" /><!-- (As far as I am aware, these last 2 muscles are not classified as pelvic floor muscles... -->, the [[levator ani]] muscle (including the [[Iliococcygeus]], [[pubococcygeus]], [[puborectalis]] and either [[Levator ani#Structure|pubovaginalis]] in females or [[Levator ani#Structure|puboprostaticus]] in males)<ref name="GRAYS2005" />{{rp|422}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Guaderrama|first=Noelani M.|author2=Liu, Jianmin |author3=Nager, Charles W. |author4=Pretorius, Dolores H. |author5=Sheean, Geoff |author6=Kassab, Ghada |author7= Mittal, Ravinder K. |title=Evidence for the Innervation of Pelvic Floor Muscles by the Pudendal Nerve|journal=Obstetrics & Gynecology|date=October 2005|volume=106|issue=4|pages=774–781|doi=10.1097/01.AOG.0000175165.46481.a8|pmid=16199635|s2cid=20663667}}</ref> the [[external anal sphincter]] (via the inferior anal branch),<ref name="ASCRStextbook">{{cite book|editor=Wolff BG |display-editors=etal |title=The ASCRS textbook of colon and rectal surgery|year=2007|publisher=Springer|location=New York|isbn=978-0-387-24846-2}}</ref>{{rp|7}} and [[external sphincter muscle of male urethra|male]] or [[external sphincter muscle of female urethra|female external urethral sphincter]].<ref name="GRAYS2005">{{cite book|last=Drake|first=Richard L.|title=Gray's anatomy for students|year=2005|publisher=Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-8089-2306-0|author2=Vogl, Wayne |author3=Tibbitts, Adam W.M. Mitchell  |author4=illustrations by Richard |author5= Richardson, Paul }}</ref>{{rp|424–425}}

As it functions to innervate the external urethral sphincter it is responsible for the tone of the sphincter mediated via [[acetylcholine]] release. This means that during periods of increased acetylcholine release the [[skeletal muscle]] in the external urethral sphincter contracts, causing urinary retention. Whereas in periods of decreased acetylcholine release the skeletal muscle in the external urethral sphincter relaxes, allowing voiding of the bladder to occur.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc = 2897743 | pmid=18490916 | doi=10.1038/nrn2401 | volume=9 | issue=6 | title=The neural control of micturition | date=June 2008 | journal=Nat. Rev. Neurosci. | pages=453–66 | last1 = Fowler | first1 = CJ | last2 = Griffiths | first2 = D | last3 = de Groat | first3 = WC}}</ref> (Unlike the internal sphincter muscle, the external sphincter is made of skeletal muscle, therefore it is under voluntary control of the [[somatic nervous system]].)

It is also responsible for [[ejaculation]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Penson |first=David F. |title=Male Sexual Function: A Guide to Clinical Management |publisher=Annals of Internal Medicine |year=2002}}</ref>