Mapping the orgasm

There are some things that are notoriously difficult to track down. The Sasquatch for instance has thus far proved difficult to find outside of a few blurry photographs among pine forests. UFOs have been persistently reluctant to leave hard evidence of their existence. The Loch Ness Monster has yet to stand up for a full press conference. Similarly, the biological origins and nature of the female orgasm have remained clouded in mystery and folk-lore: until now.

Evidence of what happens in the female brain during orgasm now exists. This has been achieved thanks to an extraordinary display of dedication to the relentless quest for truth by a PhD student who has allowed an MRI scan to be taken of her brain while she self-stimulated herself to orgasm.

In the initial stages of stimulation the scan showed activity in the sensory area of the brain’s cortex related to the genitals. Then the limbic system becomes involved, the limbic system being a part of the brain involved in long-term memory and emotions.

Just because the orgasm actually takes place the cerebellum and frontal cortex become very active, due to increases in muscle tension.

Then during orgasm itself activity on the hypothalamus reaches a peak and the pleasure and trust inducing chemical oxytocin is released causing the uterus to contract. The nucleus accumbens, a brain region involved in pleasure and reward, also becomes very active at this point. At the height of orgasm 80 brain regions are involved; 40 in each hemisphere. Then as orgasm subsides so does activity right across the brain.

We can see then that the orgasm escalates from an initial sensory experience to involvement of emotions, muscles, trust, pleasure, and feeling intense reward in the “big bang” that is orgasm.

The researchers say that apart from an epileptic seizure there is no bigger brain networking event than an orgasm, and that it shows the almost complete connectivity that can characterise the human brain.

Viewing the orgasm as a chance for “networking” on the part of your neurons may take some of the romance out of it, but it does allow for an understanding of why “conferences” are so popular in the business community, where “networking” is the real goal of the day. Conferences are, in effect, a large business orgasm.