The study was published in Journal of Sexual Medicine, Vol. 4 Issue 3, Pages 667 - 674, May 2007. The researchers had 20 intact men and 20 circumcised men watch erotic films before they were tested for touch sensitivity. The researchers tested a spot on the glans, the penile shaft, and the forearm of each subject. The researchers found no significant difference in glans sensitivity between the subjects. Surprisingly, the intact men were less sensitive to touch on the forearm than the circumcised men.
Dr. John R. Taylor wrote a letter to the editor that was published in Journal of Sexual Medicine, Vol. 4 Issue 5 , Pg. 1516 (September 2007). The letter was titled "The forgotten foreskin and its ridged band." Psychologist Kimberley A. Payne, PhD, an author of the study, responded to Dr. Taylor's letter on pg. 1517.
An article on the study was published in August 2007 by ABC News. The article stated:
As for the failure to measure the foreskin's sensitivity, Reinisch said that was irrelevant, as it rolls back from the glans during arousal.
"The foreskin's job is to cover the penis and protect it," she said. "Its job is not to be a part of the sensitivity."
"Of course nerve endings are lost," she said of circumcision. "The question is: Does it make any difference in satisfaction? In pleasure?"
Unfortunately, the above comments show ignorance of the function of the foreskin, or prepuce, during sex. The glans moves within the foreskin during sex. The movement or gliding action stimulates the inner foreskin and the ridged band, both of which are highly innervated with Meisner's corpuscles (fine touch nerves). The glans does not contain such fine touch nerve receptors and plays a lesser role in physical sexual stimulation.
Many think that the study was flawed in its methodology. The researchers only examined a point on the glans and did not address the other areas of the penis. The authors equated the glans penis with the male genitals, although the glans is but one part of the male genitals. The study had a small sample size and did not address the age related keratinization of the glans. It is hoped that some day some researchers will undertake a valid study of the sensitivity of the penis and the differences between intact and circumcised men.