Scientists have used brain scan images to create the world's first movie of the female brain as it approaches, experiences and recovers from an orgasm. The animation reveals the steady buildup of activity in the brain as disparate regions flicker into life and then come together in a crescendo of activity before gently settling back down again.
To make the animation, researchers monitored a woman's brain as she lay in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner and stimulated herself. The research will help scientists to understand how the brain conducts the symphony of activity that leads to sexual climax in a woman.
By studying people who have orgasms, Professor Barry Komisaruk, a psychologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey and his team hope to uncover what goes wrong in both men and women who cannot reach sexual climax.
The animation was compiled from sequential brain scans of Nan Wise, a 54-year-old PhD student and sex therapist in Komisaruk's lab. "It's my dissertation," Wise told the Guardian. "I'm committed to it."
The five-minute movie shows how activity changes across 80 separate regions of the brain in snapshots taken every two seconds. The animation uses a "hot metal" colour scale that begins at dark red and progresses through orange and yellow to white at the highest levels of activity.
"The general aim of this research is to understand how the orgasm builds up from genital stimulation and what parts of the brain become recruited and finally build up into an orgasm," said Prof Komisaruk, who presented the work at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington DC on Monday. The work has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
As the animation plays, activity first builds up in the genital area of the sensory cortex, a response to being touched in that region. Activity then spreads to the limbic system, a collection of brain structures involved in emotions and long-term memory.
As the orgasm arrives, activity shoots up in two parts of the brain called the cerebellum and the frontal cortex, perhaps because of greater muscle tension. During orgasm, activity reaches a peak in the hypothalamus, which releases a chemical called oxytocin that causes pleasurable sensations and stimulates the uterus to contract. Activity also peaks in the nucleus accumbens, an area linked to reward and pleasure.
After orgasm, the activity in all these regions gradually calms down.
"It's a beautiful system in which to study the brain's connectivity," Komisaruk said. "We expect that this movie, a dynamic representation of the gradual buildup of brain activity to a climax, followed by resolution, will facilitate our understanding of pathological conditions such as anorgasmia by emphasising where in the brain the sequential process breaks down."
In a new technique being developed by Komisaruk, people inside the scanner can see their own brain activity on a screen almost instantaneously. Through this "neurobiofeedback", Komisaruk speculates that people might be able to learn how to change their brain activity, a feat that could perhaps help treat a broad range of conditions, such as anxiety, depression and pain.
"We're using orgasm as a way of producing pleasure. If we can learn how to activate the pleasure regions of the brain then that could have wider applications," he said.
Comments
14 November 2011 9:17PM
The female orgasm seems very complicated,It makes being male almost lazy.
14 November 2011 9:21PM
At whiat time does she have the glass of wine before, and the cigarette afterwards?
14 November 2011 9:26PM
If I happen to reminded about any of this the next time I give my girlfriend an orgasm, it's going to seriously ruin the moment for me.
14 November 2011 9:27PM
Mine used to have a cigarette during.
14 November 2011 9:28PM
I'll have what she's having..
14 November 2011 9:31PM
Some researchers have such a tough time!
14 November 2011 9:32PM
Just out of interest, what position is going on in the top picture?!
14 November 2011 9:32PM
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14 November 2011 9:38PM
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14 November 2011 9:39PM
Don't know , but if you're a bisexual with a foot fetish it's pure gold.
14 November 2011 9:39PM
Fake.
14 November 2011 9:41PM
I see you have plenty of experience with fake orgasms then, hehe =]
14 November 2011 9:42PM
"I will do science to it", indeed.
14 November 2011 9:42PM
gosh she's very quiet though
14 November 2011 9:43PM
was this a sixth form project?
14 November 2011 9:43PM
And next week, the brain scan of a woman as she mutters, "Oh. Gosh. No really, it's fine. It happens to lots of men..."
14 November 2011 9:49PM
Typographical representation of the female orgasm:
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Typographical representation of the male orgasm:
.
14 November 2011 9:54PM
Epic. Even the best writers of sci-fi dystopia could not have thought up this scenario.
14 November 2011 9:58PM
Wait, but I... doh!
14 November 2011 9:59PM
I didn't find this video as arousing as I'd hoped.
14 November 2011 9:59PM
So this person gets to give herself orgasms as part of her work?
Awesome.
14 November 2011 10:04PM
Please put the video on YouTube with the title "woman having an orgasm" and see how many hits it gets. Maybe add Rick Astley at the end.
14 November 2011 10:05PM
I was hoping we'd at least be able to hear the soundtrack. Worst porn film ever.
14 November 2011 10:07PM
That's the 'fell asleep during' position, practised by many pub-goers.
14 November 2011 10:08PM
I'm sure I recognise her?
14 November 2011 10:10PM
Interesting.
No, not the orgasm-induced 'neuromania (copyright R. Tallis) but weight placed on the report of a 'scientific' (I use the term loosely) experiment with a sample size of........ err ONE. And the ONE is a sex therapist.
14 November 2011 10:10PM
Yeah, until the morning.
14 November 2011 10:12PM
One of the known effects of fMRI is "peripheral nerve stimulation", so the animated results may not be a true reflection of what actually happens outside the confines of a scanner .
As such, the results are likely to be flawed, and it is probably the case that those in search of a female orgasm will be better served studying the causal effects of a bottle of sauvignon blanc or Salvatore Ferragamo shoes.
I fear we're all nan the wiser.
14 November 2011 10:13PM
I wonder if the orgasm would appear different if she was orgasming with a partner? I would think it would be very different. I think diffferent parts of the brain would come into play.
14 November 2011 10:13PM
Exactly,sounds great to activate those good old areas and then we won't have to go through all that tiresome shit of relating and emoting.
Saves on wine and cigarettes aswell,unless your love object is a net contributor of poisons.
14 November 2011 10:18PM
... And Lo, neurographic erotica was born.
14 November 2011 10:19PM
I think perhaps because it's not entirely novel - seem to remember seeing this being done before.
Just think - that little video there, and the search to have those impulses is responsible for keeping human life going. And possibly all the wars and conflict throughout history too.
14 November 2011 10:23PM
I handed over my credit card details for this? Bleeding scammers.
14 November 2011 10:24PM
In the late 90s there used to be an edgy and very funny cartoon that aired in North America called Duckman. Once a character asked Duckman how his sex life was and Duckman responded that it was "fantastic, bloody fantastic".
The character then corrected himself and said "I meant with a partner". To which Duckman replied "Oh you didn't specify."
14 November 2011 10:25PM
I would like to read an explanation somewhere of why the woman's orgasm is held to be better and more interesting than the man's. In my view, Tiresias was a liar when, after seven years' experience as a woman, he claimed they have ten times more pleasure from sex than men. At the risk of being boring, I think this old Greek myth reflects perennial sexist views of men and women and is exactly that: a myth, rather than ancient social wisdom. Men do not need better orgasms, if mine are anything to go by. I think they are the equal of women's.
I have yet to discover a study, scientific or literary, of the male orgasm. Has anyone ever bothered to think about it or investigate it? We lead ourselves to assume that just because a typical man doesn't break out in a bestial symphony of moans, screams, and cries (is this true?) that therefore he is not in fact going to pieces inside, just like a woman.
From my own experience, a man's orgasm, or even a boy's (how often does anyone ever discuss a boy's orgasm?), can be devastating and convulsive, in the best sense of those words. At the same time, I do not scream, but rather grunt or gasp in a more low key way than society's fantasies of the female orgasm. Nevertheless, I come apart at the seams in the most intensely delicious way, leaving me shattered.
Do we ever see a man's orgasm like that in literature or cinema, or studied in the laboratory? Why not?
14 November 2011 10:25PM
Female orgasms happen in exactly the same way as male ones; keep rubbing it the right way and eventually you'll get there. Just like male orgasms, in the final few stages, for the final few strokes, it's basically (mutual) masturbation (just like with a penis). In fact, if you look at it under a microscope the clitoris is shaped just like a tiny penis, complete with a perfectly shaped glans.
The reason female orgasms have become so 'complicated', is because of the hangover from the punative taboos around female sexuality; men wanted their woman to stay loyal to them, not go off and and have sex (and breed) with other men, so the best way to achieve this was by making sure women didn't enjoy sex, by punishing and ostracising the ones that did, or who were promiscuous. In some parts of the world they even cut the clitoris off adolescent girls to ensure they don't have an orgasm and therefore are more likely to stay loyal to their husbands. In Victorian England too, the 'little operation' (a clitorectomy) was prescribed by doctors to wives who were regarded as 'hysterical', one of the 'symptoms' being a woman becoming 'over excited' during sexual intercourse.
Today things have changed, but the 'slag' stigma still exists, and inhibits a lot of women from really letting themselves enjoy sex (and have an orgasm) because they might start wanting it with lots of different people, and they might be called a 'slag' and subsequently treated as inferior.
Many women still don't have orgasms during sex, or even through masturbation, partly because women are still governed by the need to behave in a feminine and 'pretty way, and orgasms require one to push quite hard, and not necessarily be particularly 'feminine'. Also, mass media still for the most part tends to show men 'giving' a woman an orgasm through penetrative sex, and this inhibits women (and men too) from doing what feels good & works naturally, making them think they have to do it in a certain way, otherwise they will be thought of as 'weird' or not 'feminine' or 'manly' enough.
For all the men out there, if you really want a woman to have an orgasm, all you really have to do is make sure she doesn't feel inhibited or self-conscious when she's in bed with you, by making her feel good about herself, her body, and that anything she needs to do to come, or needs you to do to get help her come is fine with you. Non- judgemental.
For all the women out there - DO NOT FAKE IT! EVER! HOW ELSE ARE THEY GOING TO LEARN WHAT A FEMALE ORGASM REALLY LOOKS & SOUNDS LIKE?! If you really can't come, (but usually can) it's probably tiredness, or too much to drink, or anxiety etc...men understand this - these are the things that stop them having orgasms too.
14 November 2011 10:31PM
Dude, why are you telling us all about your orgasms? Talk about a boner-killer.
14 November 2011 10:32PM
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14 November 2011 10:34PM
It would be interseting to have this study written by a scientist with a wider perspective than that of the Junior Gentlemen's Club.
14 November 2011 10:40PM
I refuse to take responsibility for the problems with your bone.
14 November 2011 10:40PM
Oh I remember Duckman .. he was on over here too.
Oh I remember Orgasms ... .......................................... ....................... ..........
14 November 2011 10:41PM
I like the way she rotates her head through 720 degrees in the heat of the moment.
Might try and teach my own lady to do that!
14 November 2011 10:41PM
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14 November 2011 10:45PM
Komisaruk sounds like one of those who make a living writing ads for porn movies. only obviously he is not good even at that.
14 November 2011 10:45PM
These people must have had even more fun at "work" than her!
14 November 2011 10:47PM
Should the science section in the Guardian be renamed "Little Holmby Hills" anytime soon?
14 November 2011 10:49PM
When I think of it, this film is obviously already old hat. Jane Fonda already did it.
14 November 2011 10:50PM
And Jane Fonda did it so much better.
14 November 2011 10:51PM
Dude I can assure you not every one here either shares your point of view or physical attributes. I for one found his comments illuminating and very interesting. I almost fell off my chair reading about his breaking into pieces. Quite an extraordinary account. I say well done.
14 November 2011 10:52PM
This made me laugh. You don't need a microscope to see what a clitoris looks like.
I am not as pessimistic as you seem to be about women's orgasms. I find that modern women come forcefully and well. Intercourse does not always yield orgasm for a woman but when it fails, a good licking almost always satisfies.
I agree with you that by far the soundest guarantee of erotic satisfaction for both parties is that they should like and be comfortable with each other.