Curiosity (2011) s01e03 Episode Script
Why Is Sex Fun?
Gyllenhaal : This woman is about to have an orgasm.
But it's not for love or for fun.
She's about to take part in an extraordinary study, and it's all in the name of science.
Komisaruk: Start stimulation.
lt's one of the most intense pleasures we can experience.
A thrill ride bliss orgasm.
Every day, 1 00 million people have one.
That's 7 0,000 orgasms a minute, more than 1 ,000 climaxes every second of the day and night.
You have to wonder -- what's it all for? ln men, the answer's simple.
Their orgasms are necessary for reproduction, but that's not true for women.
We don't need an orgasm to get pregnant.
So why do we have them at all? To find out, scientists are bringing the orgasm into the lab studying human sexuality in shocking new ways lt's the clitoris.
scanning our brainwaves The way that we're going to know that you've started orgasm is you're gonna raise your left hand.
watching our most private moments, hoping to solve, once and for all, the very deepest mysteries of the orgasm.
[ heart beating .]
ln a lab at Rutgers University, one fearless woman is about to donate her orgasm to medical science.
Like hunger, thirst, or pain, the feelings she'll experience are primal, hard to put into words, which is why, after more than 60 years of research, we still don't have a textbook definition of what an orgasm is.
Give her 60 minutes before.
Mm-hmm.
And for the thinking, she said it takes about 20 to 30 minutes, so Until now, investigators have focused mainly on the genitals, but neuroscientist Professor Barry Komisaruk and sexual health researcher Dr.
Beverly Whipple are delving into uncharted sexual territory -- our brains.
Komisaruk: Nobody had shown anything about where orgasm occurs, what parts of the brain are activated.
Why does it feel good? What is the sequence of activation of the different parts of the brain? How does it develop? Gyllenhaal : They plan to map her brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
lt measures changes in blood o xygen content.
To get a good scan, a tightly clamped mask will keep her head from moving too much, making the task at hand even more challenging.
l feel like when l orgasm, my head's gonna explode with all the pressure.
l did practice trying to keep my head still and it was really hard.
[ laughs .]
Just 24 inches in diameter, the scanner's a tight fit, not the ideal place for pleasure.
Raise your left hand if you can hear okay.
She's good.
She's good, okay.
Okay.
Gyllenhaal : She can only stay in this claustrophobic tube for a limited amount of time.
The brain data with the behavior.
Mission control launches their countdown.
Dr.
Whipple: 54321 Start stimulation.
Gyllenhaal : But will she be able to reach orgasm under such scrutiny? Today the female orgasm remains one of the greatest and most controversial mysteries in all of human sexuality.
But harken back to the 1 9th century, and people didn't think the female orgasm existed at all.
Here in New York's Museum of Sex, our most intimate moments are out in the open, and among these curiosities lurks a strange chapter in the history of female sexuality.
These bizarre contraptions are the very first vibrators, but they weren't designed for fun.
The only time you'd see one of these was in the hands of your doctor.
Sarah Forbes is the curator of the Sex Museum in New York City.
She's charted this bizarre period in our history.
l think there was a different mentality and a different understanding of what an orgasm was.
These early physicians didn't believe in the female orgasm.
They believed that there was a disorder called ''female hysteria.
'' So, you would go to your doctor, be treated, and they would be manually masturbated, and instead of an orgasm being produced, it was something called ''paro xysm.
'' So, that was the non-sexualized, medicalized version of what the orgasm was.
Gyllenhaal : But curing patients manually could be lengthy and labor intensive, so doctors invented a new device.
Forbes: We have early vibrators, which were the medical treatment for women.
So, they would go to their doctor once a week, and the vibrator was used as a tool to induce orgasm.
Gyllenhaal : But times were soon to change.
As the 20th century drew on, women rebelled against the male medical establishment, and a new kind of sexual freedom erupted.
Today, the female orgasm is an undeniable reality.
But my question remains -- what's it all for? The purpose of the male orgasm is clear To expel sperm into the vagina where it can fertilize an egg.
No orgasm, no sperm, and no sperm, no baby.
But the function of the female orgasm is less clear.
lt does not expel eggs.
lt's not necessary for reproduction.
So why do we have them at all? Why do women have orgasms? lt's a question that's baffled us for centuries.
But now a pioneering team of scientists is searching for answers in a more intimate way than ever before.
Komisaruk: Start stimulation.
lt's a challenging task, so they've enlisted the help of a very brave volunteer.
lnside this MRl machine, she's about to give herself an orgasm in the name of science, but it's a task that can't be rushed.
She's been applying self stimulation for over 1 0 minutes now.
Gyllenhaal : So far, our subject's scan has little to show for all her effort.
Sex research can actually be quite boring, you know, nothing happening.
Gyllenhaal : The only activity is in the sensory cortex.
lt's here that we receive the feeling of genital stimulation.
Little else seems to be happening.
But then A telltale change, which signals an impending climax.
Should be coming around to blastoff, l would suspect, soon.
Gyllenhaal : Deep inside the brain, the hippocampus ignites.
This is the place where emotions and long-term memories form.
Now the brain is really heating up.
Just seconds to go.
Hand up.
The subject gives the hand signal.
Orgasm has begun.
Neuronal fireworks explode across the FMRl.
Motor areas, like the cerebellum, surge with activity as muscles tense and release.
Then, the brain's pleasure and addiction center, the nucleus accumbens, ignites.
30 different areas of the brain light up.
[ heart beating rapidly .]
Great job.
So, just rest and relax.
Komisaruk: This is a big surprise.
Basically, all systems in the brain are activated during orgasm.
The cortex, the cerebellum, the hypothalamus, the brain stem -- they're activated in different sequences, but they all become activated at one time or another.
That's what we're seeing.
Gyllenhaal : No other human activity appears to stimulate so many areas of the brain at once.
Komisaruk: All these major systems in the brain become activated in orgasm, and one of the implications is that, since so many areas become activated, what we're really measuring is o xygen utilization.
lt means that orgasms are creating a great supply of o xygen and nutrients to the brain, so it can't be bad for us.
lt's got to be good for the brain.
Gyllenhaal : This test subject's work is done.
Clamped in a giant machine with a panel of researchers watching, she gave herself an orgasm in the name of science.
lt's really hard to do it with your head snapped into one position.
l have no idea how long it took or what it looked like, but it was great.
[ laughing .]
l'm feeling kind of high, actually.
[ laughter .]
Komisaruk: Orgasm is more than a physiological response.
Orgasm is a wonderful feeling -- intense pleasure -- and that's very important for us.
Gyllenhaal : Komisaruk and Whipple have discovered that the female orgasm activates almost every part of our brains.
Clearly, it's a big deal.
But why does it happen? ls it just a form of mental workout designed to exercise the brain and induce pleasure? Author Mary Roach has charted the history of sex research and studied the lives of modern women.
Roach : There just is a huge spectrum in terms of how easy it is for women to orgasm.
There are some women who've never had an orgasm, and then there's really orgasmic women.
l got e-mails from women who said, ''Wow, yeah, l thought l was the only one who was sort of wired that way.
Like, for me, on a good day, putting on lip gloss will do it.
'' l got e-mails from women saying, ''Oh, like, the back of my knee, or, like, any part of my body -- l can become orgasmic.
'' And there's women who just, spontaneously, out of the blue, will have orgasm.
Gyllenhaal : lt's this huge variation of orgasmic experience that's led Elisabeth Lloyd to question why the female orgasm exists at all.
ln evolutionary terms, sex is all about reproduction, and men get a pleasurable reward every time they unleash their genetic material.
Not so for women.
ln fact, studies show that only 25% of women regularly orgasm through penetrative sex alone which is why Professor Lloyd believes the female orgasm is not a reward, but a by-product of our shared embryonic past.
Lloyd : First eight weeks of life, the male and female have the same body type.
And during that first eight weeks, the muscles and nerve pathways for orgasm are laid down in the male and female alike.
lt's much like the male nipple.
When you have the female needing to have the nipples for nursing, the male gets them just because he shares the same body plan.
ln orgasm, the male needs to have the orgasm, and the female gets it, basically, for free because of this shared body plan.
Gyllenhaal : She calls her theory ''the fantastic bonus'' and argues that female orgasms have no real evolutionary purpose at all.
But we still face unanswered questions.
lf the female orgasm is just a male hand-me-down, why is it often more powerful, varied, and sophisticated? A never-before-seen look at the female anatomy in action exposes some shocking revelations.
What we thought we knew about our bodies was just the tip of the iceberg.
To really get a grip on the female orgasm, you need to understand the inner workings of a woman's anatomy.
We're just learning what a complex organ the clitoris really is.
And then there's the elusive G-spot.
Since it was identified in the 1 960s, who knows how many women and their partners have tried and failed to find it.
But now scientists are breaking new ground.
Turns out there's a lot more going on in a woman's body than anyone ever imagined.
Odile Buisson is a pioneering scientist who is charting new territory in sex research.
All ready.
Buisson : Yes.
She uses ultrasound to study the intricacies of our internal anatomy.
-- lt's the clitoris.
Woman : Yeah.
You know, it's made of erectile tissue.
Mm-hmm.
And during the stimulation of the clitoris, they are filling with blood.
lt was only as recently as 1 998 that researchers discovered the true size and scope of the clitoris.
lt isn't just a small, external button.
lt's a far more complex structure Two prongs of erectile tissue wrapping around the vagina.
Make some contractions, some perineal contractions, and you can see it's very mobile.
l know.
The clitoris is not the little things you can see when you see a vulva.
-- Yeah.
lt's a much more important organ.
Now Dr.
Buisson has teamed up with Professor Emmanuele Jannini from the University of L'Aquila in ltaly.
They want to study female sexual anatomy in action, but to do so they need the help of the woman's partner.
This your room to change in.
That means bringing sexual intercourse into the lab.
You can see the penis.
You can see the vaginal wall.
We use ultrasound to show dynamically what's happening in a woman's body during the direct stimulation of the inner clitoris, as well as the vagina.
You may go to arousal, and you should let us know when you are excited enough.
Gyllenhaal : By studying the mechanics of sex, the scientists capture never-before-seen details of the penis, vagina, and inner clitoris in motion.
And the clitoris is displaced and completely stretched by the erected penis.
Gyllenhaal : Again and again, the inner clitoris gets pulled and then squashed by the moving penis.
Jannini : The female body's not static and boring as the male one.
lt looks like there is something always changing.
For this reason, scientifically, very, very interesting.
Now is pretty good.
lt's pretty good? Okay.
The changes during penetration are definitely showing us that these anatomical structures are not static, but that they change throughout the stimulation.
Gyllenhaal : lt seems the clitoris is as important inside as it is outside.
And their taboo-busting work could also shed light on the most sensitive area of female anatomy.
The G-spot was first identified by sex researcher Beverly Whipple after she and her colleagues examined 800 highly orgasmic women.
We found a sensitive area in the vagina.
lf a woman is lying on her back, it's somewhere between the 1 1 :00 and 1 2:00.
Gyllenhaal : She proposed that this G-spot is the source of the vaginal orgasm.
But after decades of searching, many women and their partners have failed to find it.
Now, Buisson and Jannini have a new take on this controversy.
lt seems the G-spot may not be a spot at all.
They suspect it's really the area of the vaginal wall where the penis is stimulating the crux of the inner clitoris, which explains why it feels so different for every woman.
The G-spot is a good name, but scientifically, you have to say something more.
lt's not a spot.
Maybe it's not ''G.
'' But there's something very, very complicated having the clitoris, having the urethra, having the vaginal wall, the glands, nerves, muscles, again, all working together in a different way from woman to woman to give pleasure coming from inside the vagina.
Gyllenhaal : Buisson and Jannini set out to study the instrument of female sexual pleasure.
lnstead, they discovered an entire orchestra sophisticated, highly tuned, and working in concert.
This does not look like a vestige of male sexuality.
Slowly.
Compared to their average, 6-second long climax, the female orgasm lasts for 20 seconds.
We can have multiple orgasms, too.
And now scientists are discovering it could have physical powers beyond anything we imagined.
Gyllenhaal : Scientists on the forefront of sex research are piecing together a picture of what the orgasm looks like in both our bodies and our brains.
This complex and finely tuned event begins with physical arousal.
[ heart beating .]
Heart rate rises Muscles tense Breathing becomes rapid as the lungs surge with o xygen.
Men have an obvious response.
Spongy tissue inside the penis fills with blood, and he gets an erection.
Women experience parallel effects.
The vaginal walls swell with blood, and as the vagina expands, the cervix elevates.
Excitement builds, the heart rate doubles in both women and men.
Pupils dilate, letting in more light.
Hairs stand on end.
Sweat forms.
Blood circulation rapidly increases.
And now we know, during penetration, the erect penis stimulates the engorged clitoris, especially through the front wall of the vagina -- the so called G-spot.
Brain activity builds, and nearing orgasm, both male and female brains crackle with activity.
Some 30 different areas fire up.
Then, at climax, a tiny region of the brain called the hypothalamus triggers the release of the hormone o xytocin into the bloodstream.
ln men, this hormone makes muscles at the base of the penis contract vigorously, causing ejaculation.
ln women, the o xytocin sets in motion a wave of vaginal contractions, spasming every 0.
8 seconds.
20 seconds of intense pleasure and then it's all over.
[ bell tolls .]
Ludwig Wildt is professor of gynecology at lnnsbruck University in Austria.
He's convinced that the female orgasm plays a subtle, but powerful role, not just in sexual pleasure, but in reproduction itself.
Start the application.
Today, he's trying to gauge the effect of the female orgasm on sperm ejaculated into the vagina.
He'll use a fluid laced with harmlessly radioactive particles to mimic sperm cells.
We put about 2 milliliters into the vagina with a small catheter.
You can see how these particles are taken up by the uterus.
Gyllenhaal : Once the radioactive material goes in, Wildt can begin tracking its journey.
His synthetic sperm show up on screen as colored dots.
What you see on this picture is the distribution of radioactivity of these particles in the vagina.
And what we see is not much activity.
That's why we inject o xytocin.
Gyllenhaal : Wildt then gives the order to inject the volunteer with a large dose of the hormone o xytocin.
Within seconds, the o xytocin stimulates muscle contractions in the vagina, cervix, and uterus.
The effect on the radioactive particles is remarkable.
The orgasm seems to turn the whole system into a powerful pump, propelling the sperm straight toward the woman's egg.
Now we have given the patient o xytocin, and you see activity into the uterus.
This happens within a couple of seconds.
This effect is very fast because of this up-suck mechanism.
Gyllenhaal : And it's a much more sophisticated process than anyone could have predicted.
Not only does the army of sperm travel upwards, they're routed in a purposeful direction, taking either a hard right or left to the fallopian tubes.
Now you see that it starts to transport to the left fallopian tube.
Gyllenhaal : Most amazingly of all, for reasons no one really understands, the orgasmic contractions seem to guide the sperm toward whichever ovary is about to release an egg so maximizing the chance of conception.
Of course, women can still get pregnant without even approaching an orgasm.
Sporadic contractions happen naturally during sex, gently propelling sperm on their way.
But happily, it seems that having an orgasm could give you a better shot at getting pregnant.
Wildt: Certainly, having an orgasm is always a good thing, but l would not go so far to say, ''lf you don't have an orgasm, you cannot get pregnant,'' because this is certainly not true.
But l would recommend it will help.
Gyllenhaal : Wildt proposes that a woman's orgasm is a fail-safe, a guiding force for any sperm that lose their way.
So female orgasm could have a reproductive function after all.
But shunting sperm may not be its only role.
Scientists are finally piecing together the complex anatomy of an orgasm, but some researchers believe that there's more to the experience than just a flurry of physical pleasure.
lt seems orgasms may be driving our behavior outside the bedroom, too.
Gyllenhaal : Scientists are finally getting a handle on the physiology behind the female orgasm.
But anthropology professor David Puts thinks it influences how we behave as well as our biology.
He's taking a scientific look at the mating behind our dating.
We're in a busy bar on a Friday night, and everywhere around us, people are competing for and making choices about mates.
This is absolutely fascinating, because, unlike the lab, this is humans in nature.
Girl, l wanna do it! Gyllenhaal : Scientists think that the male orgasm has evolved as a physical reward, encouraging them to sire many children.
You know you wanna do it! Quit playin', girl, and do it Puts thinks orgasm is also a reward for women, but this sexual incentive is far more subtle and discriminating, driving women to have sex with a certain type of man.
ln the cold light of day at Penn State University, he's putting his theory to the test.
Come on in and just have a seat across from your partner.
He's designed an experiment using established couples.
First, the participants answer questionnaires about their relationship, their sex life, and the frequency of the woman's orgasms.
The team takes blood samples to assess the couples' genetic compatibility, and they gauge the men's perceived masculinity by measuring physical strength and depth of voice.
Most importantly, they're rating the test subjects' physical attractiveness.
So, the first thing you're gonna do is you're gonna see a bunch of faces on the screen in front of you.
We just want you to say how attractive you think they are on a 1 -to-7 scale.
So, feel free to start just by clicking on the ''start'' button.
Gyllenhaal : Of all the study's variables, it seems that there is one most closely tied to how often women will have an orgasm -- male physical attractiveness.
The fact is, looks do matter.
Women have more orgasms with men that they find handsome.
But Puts is drilling deeper into the biological motive behind it.
Detailed analysis reveals the face shapes of people deemed attractive are much more symmetrical than those we find unattractive.
Puts: We're taking photographs to assess symmetry -- facial symmetry.
lt's used by a lot of researchers as a sort of measure for genetic quality.
Gyllenhaal : Symmetry is a scientifically accepted indicator of good genes.
Throughout the animal kingdom, we see that highly symmetrical males are more resistant to disease and show fewer genetic mutations.
A really intense, emotional experience like orgasm seems likely to be associated with reinforcing certain sorts of behaviors.
We are finding that women are reporting more frequent orgasms with men of high genetic quality, and if l had to bet right now, l would say that female orgasm may function partly in selecting a male with good genes.
Gyllenhaal : Puts believes orgasms are a powerful, evolutionary reward mechanism encouraging women to mate not just with any man, but with the right man -- the genetically strongest partner.
ln evolutionary terms, that means passing on robust and healthy genes to your children.
For some women, it seems the orgasm is a compass, guiding us toward the right mate, but another scientist thinks there's more going on in our minds than just sizing up a guy's genes.
She believes that the quality of the orgasm, how good it feels, has everything to do with one four-letter word -- love.
Stephanie Ortigue of Syracuse University has come up with a unique experiment to test her theory.
All right, so take a seat there, please.
Okay.
First, she needs to figure out which volunteers are truly in love with their partners.
Ortigue wires up her subject with a series of sensors that record patterns of electrical activity in the brain.
Then, she directs the volunteer to a computer screen.
You're going to see words that flash very quickly.
lf you see a word, please press ''1 .
'' -- Are you ready to start? Woman : Yes.
But there's a trick.
Hidden among the words is the name of her lover.
The words, here slowed down, flash on screen so briefly that they don't register, but her subconscious mind is reading them and reacting.
So every time that we flash the name of her boyfriend, to her unconscious brain, it shows up here, and that will allow us to analyze the brain activity every time her brain sees the name of her boyfriend.
Gyllenhaal : Women who are passionately in love with their partners exhibit different brain activity than those who are not.
A brain region called the insula, normally associated with compulsive behavior, is very active when the subject is in love.
Ortigue can tell from this indicator who's truly smitten and who isn't.
Next, the women fill out detailed questionnaires about how good their orgasms feel.
Comparing questionnaires from those in love and those who are not gives clear-cut results.
Love and better orgasms go hand in hand.
There is a positive correlation between passionate love and the satisfaction of an orgasm.
The more the women are passionately in love with their partner, the more they are satisfied with their orgasm.
lt means that you will have better orgasms with your partner.
Gyllenhaal : Of course, women don't need love or a partner to have a good orgasm.
Masturbation alone stimulates vast areas of the brain.
But an orgasm, during intercourse, with a partner that you passionately love, ignites extra, different regions.
One of these is memory, and it leaves a kind of shadow, a reverberation in the brain that can last for days.
lf you have a good and satisfactory feeling with your partner during the moment, ''the big 'O''', you will have a very good memory that will be stored in this tiny part of your brain.
And this can trigger the way you will feel the next orgasm with that same partner.
Gyllenhaal : So, women not only have good orgasms when they're in love, the pleasure keeps getting better.
Some scientists suggest that these shared, pleasurable memory moments help couples bond more closely and permanently.
ln evolutionary terms, keeping a couple together gives children a better chance of survival.
lt seems the female orgasm may have evolved as relationship glue, and a bonus for long-term service.
We're gradually unraveling the tangled mysteries of the female orgasm.
And what's becoming clear is that it has more than just one role to play, influencing relationships, reproduction, and behavior in many different ways.
l think an orgasm is for pleasure and for satisfaction.
The good health.
l would say pleasure.
Sperm transport.
Well-being.
The orgasm is reward.
Happiness.
Lloyd : l'd say it's for fun.
lt's for warmth.
lt's for bonding.
Gyllenhaal : The only thing on which all sex researchers agree is that orgasms are just plain good for you.
While science still puzzles over its purpose, medicine is helping to solve some of the orgasm's many mysteries, revealing that it's got more to do with what's between your ears than between your legs.
While the purpose of the orgasm remains elusive, for some, so does the orgasm itself.
Many women struggle to climax at all.
This unassuming little device may change everything.
This is the orgasmatron, a bo x of tricks which could electrify your sex life.
But the discovery of this modern miracle began with a medical mishap.
North Carolina doctor Stuart Meloy is not a sex researcher.
He's a pain specialist.
Dr.
Meloy: l'm a physician who specializes in chronic-pain management.
We take care of people who have back and leg pain that isn't fixed by surgery.
Gyllenhaal : But during one of his regular procedures, he made a startling discovery -- one that would take him well outside his traditional field.
Dr.
Meloy manages pain by inserting an electrode into the patient's back.
lt disrupts nerve impulses traveling within the spinal cord.
Dr.
Meloy: We're replacing the pain that they feel with a sensation they can tolerate.
Most people call it a buzzing or a tingling sensation.
Our goal is to match up that sensation we create with the area where the patient hurts, and if we do that well enough, then we really eliminate their pain.
Gyllenhaal : ln 2002, Meloy was performing a routine procedure when something extraordinary happened.
Hey, Donna.
Donna: Yes? -- Where do you feel the tingling? Dr.
Meloy: l had taken a patient to the operating room And when we turned them on, the patient let out something between a shriek and a moan.
Do you fell any tingling where Dr.
Meloy is pointing? Of course, we turned the power off and kind of leaned around the drapes to ask her what the problem was.
And, well, when she caught her breath, she said, ''You're gonna have to teach my husband how to do that.
'' Gyllenhaal : Meloy had missed the nerves connected to the legs.
lnstead, he'd hit the nerves linked to the genitals.
The spinal cord acts as a conduit for information between the brain and the genitalia.
So, what we're doing is superimposing a signal that both goes up to the brain and also goes down to the genitalia.
Gyllenhaal : Arousal actually starts in the brain and is then communicated to the genitals.
They start to swell and become receptive to further stimulation, which, in turn, excites the brain even more.
As this feedback loop continues, the arousal grows increasingly intense.
Dr.
Meloy: Basically, if you leave this on long enough, then that continued stimulation will be summated as an orgasm.
Miss Yanti, do you feel my hand? Do you feel the tingling down here? Gyllenhaal : His surprising discovery inspired Dr.
Meloy to adapt the pain-blocking device into a revolutionary new treatment for female sexual dysfunction.
l think that sexual function is one of the peak experiences in the human condition.
People should be allowed as much pleasure as they possibly can.
Gyllenhaal : Meloy's discovery proves just how important the brain is for arousal and orgasm, at least for women.
And for a small, but remarkable group, the brain is all you need.
One of these rare individuals is the test subject Komisaruk and Whipple studied earlier.
She enters the MRl scanner once again, but this time, her fingers never stray.
lt is her mind which does the wandering.
She is thinking herself to orgasm.
lt's a time-consuming feat of concentration.
Woman : Hand up.
But finally, she's there.
Orgasm.
Her body responds exactly as if she'd physically masturbated.
Her heart races, her breathing is rapid and shallow, and her brain lights up just as it did in the first experiment.
A true orgasm generated by thought alone.
l was thinking about just the sensation of pleasure in my vagina and my entire lower region.
And then it just came to a point where l just gave myself permission to let go, and l had an orgasm.
There's women who just think about it -- don't actually do it -- just think about stimulating those parts of the body, and we see that the same parts of the body get activated if you just think about it.
And maybe this is the mechanism by which women can think themselves into orgasm.
The fact that we can think about your hand being stimulated, the hand area of the sensory cortex get activated.
Think about the clitoris being stimulated, the clitoral region gets activated.
So this is a big surprise.
Gyllenhaal : lt's hard and fast evidence that, for women, the organ most critical to attaining orgasm is the brain.
1 00 years ago, the medical community didn't even believe the female orgasm existed.
Today, cutting-edge research is revealing what an extraordinary and powerful phenomenon it is.
From the complex and sophisticated function of the clitoris to the powerful influence of the brain, it plays a role in the creation of life.
lt directs us to the healthiest fathers for our babies.
lt helps us form long-term bonds with our lovers.
And as scientists delve ever deeper into our brains, bodies, and behavior, who knows what secrets are still lurking in the mysterious wonderland of the female orgasm.
But it's not for love or for fun.
She's about to take part in an extraordinary study, and it's all in the name of science.
Komisaruk: Start stimulation.
lt's one of the most intense pleasures we can experience.
A thrill ride bliss orgasm.
Every day, 1 00 million people have one.
That's 7 0,000 orgasms a minute, more than 1 ,000 climaxes every second of the day and night.
You have to wonder -- what's it all for? ln men, the answer's simple.
Their orgasms are necessary for reproduction, but that's not true for women.
We don't need an orgasm to get pregnant.
So why do we have them at all? To find out, scientists are bringing the orgasm into the lab studying human sexuality in shocking new ways lt's the clitoris.
scanning our brainwaves The way that we're going to know that you've started orgasm is you're gonna raise your left hand.
watching our most private moments, hoping to solve, once and for all, the very deepest mysteries of the orgasm.
[ heart beating .]
ln a lab at Rutgers University, one fearless woman is about to donate her orgasm to medical science.
Like hunger, thirst, or pain, the feelings she'll experience are primal, hard to put into words, which is why, after more than 60 years of research, we still don't have a textbook definition of what an orgasm is.
Give her 60 minutes before.
Mm-hmm.
And for the thinking, she said it takes about 20 to 30 minutes, so Until now, investigators have focused mainly on the genitals, but neuroscientist Professor Barry Komisaruk and sexual health researcher Dr.
Beverly Whipple are delving into uncharted sexual territory -- our brains.
Komisaruk: Nobody had shown anything about where orgasm occurs, what parts of the brain are activated.
Why does it feel good? What is the sequence of activation of the different parts of the brain? How does it develop? Gyllenhaal : They plan to map her brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
lt measures changes in blood o xygen content.
To get a good scan, a tightly clamped mask will keep her head from moving too much, making the task at hand even more challenging.
l feel like when l orgasm, my head's gonna explode with all the pressure.
l did practice trying to keep my head still and it was really hard.
[ laughs .]
Just 24 inches in diameter, the scanner's a tight fit, not the ideal place for pleasure.
Raise your left hand if you can hear okay.
She's good.
She's good, okay.
Okay.
Gyllenhaal : She can only stay in this claustrophobic tube for a limited amount of time.
The brain data with the behavior.
Mission control launches their countdown.
Dr.
Whipple: 54321 Start stimulation.
Gyllenhaal : But will she be able to reach orgasm under such scrutiny? Today the female orgasm remains one of the greatest and most controversial mysteries in all of human sexuality.
But harken back to the 1 9th century, and people didn't think the female orgasm existed at all.
Here in New York's Museum of Sex, our most intimate moments are out in the open, and among these curiosities lurks a strange chapter in the history of female sexuality.
These bizarre contraptions are the very first vibrators, but they weren't designed for fun.
The only time you'd see one of these was in the hands of your doctor.
Sarah Forbes is the curator of the Sex Museum in New York City.
She's charted this bizarre period in our history.
l think there was a different mentality and a different understanding of what an orgasm was.
These early physicians didn't believe in the female orgasm.
They believed that there was a disorder called ''female hysteria.
'' So, you would go to your doctor, be treated, and they would be manually masturbated, and instead of an orgasm being produced, it was something called ''paro xysm.
'' So, that was the non-sexualized, medicalized version of what the orgasm was.
Gyllenhaal : But curing patients manually could be lengthy and labor intensive, so doctors invented a new device.
Forbes: We have early vibrators, which were the medical treatment for women.
So, they would go to their doctor once a week, and the vibrator was used as a tool to induce orgasm.
Gyllenhaal : But times were soon to change.
As the 20th century drew on, women rebelled against the male medical establishment, and a new kind of sexual freedom erupted.
Today, the female orgasm is an undeniable reality.
But my question remains -- what's it all for? The purpose of the male orgasm is clear To expel sperm into the vagina where it can fertilize an egg.
No orgasm, no sperm, and no sperm, no baby.
But the function of the female orgasm is less clear.
lt does not expel eggs.
lt's not necessary for reproduction.
So why do we have them at all? Why do women have orgasms? lt's a question that's baffled us for centuries.
But now a pioneering team of scientists is searching for answers in a more intimate way than ever before.
Komisaruk: Start stimulation.
lt's a challenging task, so they've enlisted the help of a very brave volunteer.
lnside this MRl machine, she's about to give herself an orgasm in the name of science, but it's a task that can't be rushed.
She's been applying self stimulation for over 1 0 minutes now.
Gyllenhaal : So far, our subject's scan has little to show for all her effort.
Sex research can actually be quite boring, you know, nothing happening.
Gyllenhaal : The only activity is in the sensory cortex.
lt's here that we receive the feeling of genital stimulation.
Little else seems to be happening.
But then A telltale change, which signals an impending climax.
Should be coming around to blastoff, l would suspect, soon.
Gyllenhaal : Deep inside the brain, the hippocampus ignites.
This is the place where emotions and long-term memories form.
Now the brain is really heating up.
Just seconds to go.
Hand up.
The subject gives the hand signal.
Orgasm has begun.
Neuronal fireworks explode across the FMRl.
Motor areas, like the cerebellum, surge with activity as muscles tense and release.
Then, the brain's pleasure and addiction center, the nucleus accumbens, ignites.
30 different areas of the brain light up.
[ heart beating rapidly .]
Great job.
So, just rest and relax.
Komisaruk: This is a big surprise.
Basically, all systems in the brain are activated during orgasm.
The cortex, the cerebellum, the hypothalamus, the brain stem -- they're activated in different sequences, but they all become activated at one time or another.
That's what we're seeing.
Gyllenhaal : No other human activity appears to stimulate so many areas of the brain at once.
Komisaruk: All these major systems in the brain become activated in orgasm, and one of the implications is that, since so many areas become activated, what we're really measuring is o xygen utilization.
lt means that orgasms are creating a great supply of o xygen and nutrients to the brain, so it can't be bad for us.
lt's got to be good for the brain.
Gyllenhaal : This test subject's work is done.
Clamped in a giant machine with a panel of researchers watching, she gave herself an orgasm in the name of science.
lt's really hard to do it with your head snapped into one position.
l have no idea how long it took or what it looked like, but it was great.
[ laughing .]
l'm feeling kind of high, actually.
[ laughter .]
Komisaruk: Orgasm is more than a physiological response.
Orgasm is a wonderful feeling -- intense pleasure -- and that's very important for us.
Gyllenhaal : Komisaruk and Whipple have discovered that the female orgasm activates almost every part of our brains.
Clearly, it's a big deal.
But why does it happen? ls it just a form of mental workout designed to exercise the brain and induce pleasure? Author Mary Roach has charted the history of sex research and studied the lives of modern women.
Roach : There just is a huge spectrum in terms of how easy it is for women to orgasm.
There are some women who've never had an orgasm, and then there's really orgasmic women.
l got e-mails from women who said, ''Wow, yeah, l thought l was the only one who was sort of wired that way.
Like, for me, on a good day, putting on lip gloss will do it.
'' l got e-mails from women saying, ''Oh, like, the back of my knee, or, like, any part of my body -- l can become orgasmic.
'' And there's women who just, spontaneously, out of the blue, will have orgasm.
Gyllenhaal : lt's this huge variation of orgasmic experience that's led Elisabeth Lloyd to question why the female orgasm exists at all.
ln evolutionary terms, sex is all about reproduction, and men get a pleasurable reward every time they unleash their genetic material.
Not so for women.
ln fact, studies show that only 25% of women regularly orgasm through penetrative sex alone which is why Professor Lloyd believes the female orgasm is not a reward, but a by-product of our shared embryonic past.
Lloyd : First eight weeks of life, the male and female have the same body type.
And during that first eight weeks, the muscles and nerve pathways for orgasm are laid down in the male and female alike.
lt's much like the male nipple.
When you have the female needing to have the nipples for nursing, the male gets them just because he shares the same body plan.
ln orgasm, the male needs to have the orgasm, and the female gets it, basically, for free because of this shared body plan.
Gyllenhaal : She calls her theory ''the fantastic bonus'' and argues that female orgasms have no real evolutionary purpose at all.
But we still face unanswered questions.
lf the female orgasm is just a male hand-me-down, why is it often more powerful, varied, and sophisticated? A never-before-seen look at the female anatomy in action exposes some shocking revelations.
What we thought we knew about our bodies was just the tip of the iceberg.
To really get a grip on the female orgasm, you need to understand the inner workings of a woman's anatomy.
We're just learning what a complex organ the clitoris really is.
And then there's the elusive G-spot.
Since it was identified in the 1 960s, who knows how many women and their partners have tried and failed to find it.
But now scientists are breaking new ground.
Turns out there's a lot more going on in a woman's body than anyone ever imagined.
Odile Buisson is a pioneering scientist who is charting new territory in sex research.
All ready.
Buisson : Yes.
She uses ultrasound to study the intricacies of our internal anatomy.
-- lt's the clitoris.
Woman : Yeah.
You know, it's made of erectile tissue.
Mm-hmm.
And during the stimulation of the clitoris, they are filling with blood.
lt was only as recently as 1 998 that researchers discovered the true size and scope of the clitoris.
lt isn't just a small, external button.
lt's a far more complex structure Two prongs of erectile tissue wrapping around the vagina.
Make some contractions, some perineal contractions, and you can see it's very mobile.
l know.
The clitoris is not the little things you can see when you see a vulva.
-- Yeah.
lt's a much more important organ.
Now Dr.
Buisson has teamed up with Professor Emmanuele Jannini from the University of L'Aquila in ltaly.
They want to study female sexual anatomy in action, but to do so they need the help of the woman's partner.
This your room to change in.
That means bringing sexual intercourse into the lab.
You can see the penis.
You can see the vaginal wall.
We use ultrasound to show dynamically what's happening in a woman's body during the direct stimulation of the inner clitoris, as well as the vagina.
You may go to arousal, and you should let us know when you are excited enough.
Gyllenhaal : By studying the mechanics of sex, the scientists capture never-before-seen details of the penis, vagina, and inner clitoris in motion.
And the clitoris is displaced and completely stretched by the erected penis.
Gyllenhaal : Again and again, the inner clitoris gets pulled and then squashed by the moving penis.
Jannini : The female body's not static and boring as the male one.
lt looks like there is something always changing.
For this reason, scientifically, very, very interesting.
Now is pretty good.
lt's pretty good? Okay.
The changes during penetration are definitely showing us that these anatomical structures are not static, but that they change throughout the stimulation.
Gyllenhaal : lt seems the clitoris is as important inside as it is outside.
And their taboo-busting work could also shed light on the most sensitive area of female anatomy.
The G-spot was first identified by sex researcher Beverly Whipple after she and her colleagues examined 800 highly orgasmic women.
We found a sensitive area in the vagina.
lf a woman is lying on her back, it's somewhere between the 1 1 :00 and 1 2:00.
Gyllenhaal : She proposed that this G-spot is the source of the vaginal orgasm.
But after decades of searching, many women and their partners have failed to find it.
Now, Buisson and Jannini have a new take on this controversy.
lt seems the G-spot may not be a spot at all.
They suspect it's really the area of the vaginal wall where the penis is stimulating the crux of the inner clitoris, which explains why it feels so different for every woman.
The G-spot is a good name, but scientifically, you have to say something more.
lt's not a spot.
Maybe it's not ''G.
'' But there's something very, very complicated having the clitoris, having the urethra, having the vaginal wall, the glands, nerves, muscles, again, all working together in a different way from woman to woman to give pleasure coming from inside the vagina.
Gyllenhaal : Buisson and Jannini set out to study the instrument of female sexual pleasure.
lnstead, they discovered an entire orchestra sophisticated, highly tuned, and working in concert.
This does not look like a vestige of male sexuality.
Slowly.
Compared to their average, 6-second long climax, the female orgasm lasts for 20 seconds.
We can have multiple orgasms, too.
And now scientists are discovering it could have physical powers beyond anything we imagined.
Gyllenhaal : Scientists on the forefront of sex research are piecing together a picture of what the orgasm looks like in both our bodies and our brains.
This complex and finely tuned event begins with physical arousal.
[ heart beating .]
Heart rate rises Muscles tense Breathing becomes rapid as the lungs surge with o xygen.
Men have an obvious response.
Spongy tissue inside the penis fills with blood, and he gets an erection.
Women experience parallel effects.
The vaginal walls swell with blood, and as the vagina expands, the cervix elevates.
Excitement builds, the heart rate doubles in both women and men.
Pupils dilate, letting in more light.
Hairs stand on end.
Sweat forms.
Blood circulation rapidly increases.
And now we know, during penetration, the erect penis stimulates the engorged clitoris, especially through the front wall of the vagina -- the so called G-spot.
Brain activity builds, and nearing orgasm, both male and female brains crackle with activity.
Some 30 different areas fire up.
Then, at climax, a tiny region of the brain called the hypothalamus triggers the release of the hormone o xytocin into the bloodstream.
ln men, this hormone makes muscles at the base of the penis contract vigorously, causing ejaculation.
ln women, the o xytocin sets in motion a wave of vaginal contractions, spasming every 0.
8 seconds.
20 seconds of intense pleasure and then it's all over.
[ bell tolls .]
Ludwig Wildt is professor of gynecology at lnnsbruck University in Austria.
He's convinced that the female orgasm plays a subtle, but powerful role, not just in sexual pleasure, but in reproduction itself.
Start the application.
Today, he's trying to gauge the effect of the female orgasm on sperm ejaculated into the vagina.
He'll use a fluid laced with harmlessly radioactive particles to mimic sperm cells.
We put about 2 milliliters into the vagina with a small catheter.
You can see how these particles are taken up by the uterus.
Gyllenhaal : Once the radioactive material goes in, Wildt can begin tracking its journey.
His synthetic sperm show up on screen as colored dots.
What you see on this picture is the distribution of radioactivity of these particles in the vagina.
And what we see is not much activity.
That's why we inject o xytocin.
Gyllenhaal : Wildt then gives the order to inject the volunteer with a large dose of the hormone o xytocin.
Within seconds, the o xytocin stimulates muscle contractions in the vagina, cervix, and uterus.
The effect on the radioactive particles is remarkable.
The orgasm seems to turn the whole system into a powerful pump, propelling the sperm straight toward the woman's egg.
Now we have given the patient o xytocin, and you see activity into the uterus.
This happens within a couple of seconds.
This effect is very fast because of this up-suck mechanism.
Gyllenhaal : And it's a much more sophisticated process than anyone could have predicted.
Not only does the army of sperm travel upwards, they're routed in a purposeful direction, taking either a hard right or left to the fallopian tubes.
Now you see that it starts to transport to the left fallopian tube.
Gyllenhaal : Most amazingly of all, for reasons no one really understands, the orgasmic contractions seem to guide the sperm toward whichever ovary is about to release an egg so maximizing the chance of conception.
Of course, women can still get pregnant without even approaching an orgasm.
Sporadic contractions happen naturally during sex, gently propelling sperm on their way.
But happily, it seems that having an orgasm could give you a better shot at getting pregnant.
Wildt: Certainly, having an orgasm is always a good thing, but l would not go so far to say, ''lf you don't have an orgasm, you cannot get pregnant,'' because this is certainly not true.
But l would recommend it will help.
Gyllenhaal : Wildt proposes that a woman's orgasm is a fail-safe, a guiding force for any sperm that lose their way.
So female orgasm could have a reproductive function after all.
But shunting sperm may not be its only role.
Scientists are finally piecing together the complex anatomy of an orgasm, but some researchers believe that there's more to the experience than just a flurry of physical pleasure.
lt seems orgasms may be driving our behavior outside the bedroom, too.
Gyllenhaal : Scientists are finally getting a handle on the physiology behind the female orgasm.
But anthropology professor David Puts thinks it influences how we behave as well as our biology.
He's taking a scientific look at the mating behind our dating.
We're in a busy bar on a Friday night, and everywhere around us, people are competing for and making choices about mates.
This is absolutely fascinating, because, unlike the lab, this is humans in nature.
Girl, l wanna do it! Gyllenhaal : Scientists think that the male orgasm has evolved as a physical reward, encouraging them to sire many children.
You know you wanna do it! Quit playin', girl, and do it Puts thinks orgasm is also a reward for women, but this sexual incentive is far more subtle and discriminating, driving women to have sex with a certain type of man.
ln the cold light of day at Penn State University, he's putting his theory to the test.
Come on in and just have a seat across from your partner.
He's designed an experiment using established couples.
First, the participants answer questionnaires about their relationship, their sex life, and the frequency of the woman's orgasms.
The team takes blood samples to assess the couples' genetic compatibility, and they gauge the men's perceived masculinity by measuring physical strength and depth of voice.
Most importantly, they're rating the test subjects' physical attractiveness.
So, the first thing you're gonna do is you're gonna see a bunch of faces on the screen in front of you.
We just want you to say how attractive you think they are on a 1 -to-7 scale.
So, feel free to start just by clicking on the ''start'' button.
Gyllenhaal : Of all the study's variables, it seems that there is one most closely tied to how often women will have an orgasm -- male physical attractiveness.
The fact is, looks do matter.
Women have more orgasms with men that they find handsome.
But Puts is drilling deeper into the biological motive behind it.
Detailed analysis reveals the face shapes of people deemed attractive are much more symmetrical than those we find unattractive.
Puts: We're taking photographs to assess symmetry -- facial symmetry.
lt's used by a lot of researchers as a sort of measure for genetic quality.
Gyllenhaal : Symmetry is a scientifically accepted indicator of good genes.
Throughout the animal kingdom, we see that highly symmetrical males are more resistant to disease and show fewer genetic mutations.
A really intense, emotional experience like orgasm seems likely to be associated with reinforcing certain sorts of behaviors.
We are finding that women are reporting more frequent orgasms with men of high genetic quality, and if l had to bet right now, l would say that female orgasm may function partly in selecting a male with good genes.
Gyllenhaal : Puts believes orgasms are a powerful, evolutionary reward mechanism encouraging women to mate not just with any man, but with the right man -- the genetically strongest partner.
ln evolutionary terms, that means passing on robust and healthy genes to your children.
For some women, it seems the orgasm is a compass, guiding us toward the right mate, but another scientist thinks there's more going on in our minds than just sizing up a guy's genes.
She believes that the quality of the orgasm, how good it feels, has everything to do with one four-letter word -- love.
Stephanie Ortigue of Syracuse University has come up with a unique experiment to test her theory.
All right, so take a seat there, please.
Okay.
First, she needs to figure out which volunteers are truly in love with their partners.
Ortigue wires up her subject with a series of sensors that record patterns of electrical activity in the brain.
Then, she directs the volunteer to a computer screen.
You're going to see words that flash very quickly.
lf you see a word, please press ''1 .
'' -- Are you ready to start? Woman : Yes.
But there's a trick.
Hidden among the words is the name of her lover.
The words, here slowed down, flash on screen so briefly that they don't register, but her subconscious mind is reading them and reacting.
So every time that we flash the name of her boyfriend, to her unconscious brain, it shows up here, and that will allow us to analyze the brain activity every time her brain sees the name of her boyfriend.
Gyllenhaal : Women who are passionately in love with their partners exhibit different brain activity than those who are not.
A brain region called the insula, normally associated with compulsive behavior, is very active when the subject is in love.
Ortigue can tell from this indicator who's truly smitten and who isn't.
Next, the women fill out detailed questionnaires about how good their orgasms feel.
Comparing questionnaires from those in love and those who are not gives clear-cut results.
Love and better orgasms go hand in hand.
There is a positive correlation between passionate love and the satisfaction of an orgasm.
The more the women are passionately in love with their partner, the more they are satisfied with their orgasm.
lt means that you will have better orgasms with your partner.
Gyllenhaal : Of course, women don't need love or a partner to have a good orgasm.
Masturbation alone stimulates vast areas of the brain.
But an orgasm, during intercourse, with a partner that you passionately love, ignites extra, different regions.
One of these is memory, and it leaves a kind of shadow, a reverberation in the brain that can last for days.
lf you have a good and satisfactory feeling with your partner during the moment, ''the big 'O''', you will have a very good memory that will be stored in this tiny part of your brain.
And this can trigger the way you will feel the next orgasm with that same partner.
Gyllenhaal : So, women not only have good orgasms when they're in love, the pleasure keeps getting better.
Some scientists suggest that these shared, pleasurable memory moments help couples bond more closely and permanently.
ln evolutionary terms, keeping a couple together gives children a better chance of survival.
lt seems the female orgasm may have evolved as relationship glue, and a bonus for long-term service.
We're gradually unraveling the tangled mysteries of the female orgasm.
And what's becoming clear is that it has more than just one role to play, influencing relationships, reproduction, and behavior in many different ways.
l think an orgasm is for pleasure and for satisfaction.
The good health.
l would say pleasure.
Sperm transport.
Well-being.
The orgasm is reward.
Happiness.
Lloyd : l'd say it's for fun.
lt's for warmth.
lt's for bonding.
Gyllenhaal : The only thing on which all sex researchers agree is that orgasms are just plain good for you.
While science still puzzles over its purpose, medicine is helping to solve some of the orgasm's many mysteries, revealing that it's got more to do with what's between your ears than between your legs.
While the purpose of the orgasm remains elusive, for some, so does the orgasm itself.
Many women struggle to climax at all.
This unassuming little device may change everything.
This is the orgasmatron, a bo x of tricks which could electrify your sex life.
But the discovery of this modern miracle began with a medical mishap.
North Carolina doctor Stuart Meloy is not a sex researcher.
He's a pain specialist.
Dr.
Meloy: l'm a physician who specializes in chronic-pain management.
We take care of people who have back and leg pain that isn't fixed by surgery.
Gyllenhaal : But during one of his regular procedures, he made a startling discovery -- one that would take him well outside his traditional field.
Dr.
Meloy manages pain by inserting an electrode into the patient's back.
lt disrupts nerve impulses traveling within the spinal cord.
Dr.
Meloy: We're replacing the pain that they feel with a sensation they can tolerate.
Most people call it a buzzing or a tingling sensation.
Our goal is to match up that sensation we create with the area where the patient hurts, and if we do that well enough, then we really eliminate their pain.
Gyllenhaal : ln 2002, Meloy was performing a routine procedure when something extraordinary happened.
Hey, Donna.
Donna: Yes? -- Where do you feel the tingling? Dr.
Meloy: l had taken a patient to the operating room And when we turned them on, the patient let out something between a shriek and a moan.
Do you fell any tingling where Dr.
Meloy is pointing? Of course, we turned the power off and kind of leaned around the drapes to ask her what the problem was.
And, well, when she caught her breath, she said, ''You're gonna have to teach my husband how to do that.
'' Gyllenhaal : Meloy had missed the nerves connected to the legs.
lnstead, he'd hit the nerves linked to the genitals.
The spinal cord acts as a conduit for information between the brain and the genitalia.
So, what we're doing is superimposing a signal that both goes up to the brain and also goes down to the genitalia.
Gyllenhaal : Arousal actually starts in the brain and is then communicated to the genitals.
They start to swell and become receptive to further stimulation, which, in turn, excites the brain even more.
As this feedback loop continues, the arousal grows increasingly intense.
Dr.
Meloy: Basically, if you leave this on long enough, then that continued stimulation will be summated as an orgasm.
Miss Yanti, do you feel my hand? Do you feel the tingling down here? Gyllenhaal : His surprising discovery inspired Dr.
Meloy to adapt the pain-blocking device into a revolutionary new treatment for female sexual dysfunction.
l think that sexual function is one of the peak experiences in the human condition.
People should be allowed as much pleasure as they possibly can.
Gyllenhaal : Meloy's discovery proves just how important the brain is for arousal and orgasm, at least for women.
And for a small, but remarkable group, the brain is all you need.
One of these rare individuals is the test subject Komisaruk and Whipple studied earlier.
She enters the MRl scanner once again, but this time, her fingers never stray.
lt is her mind which does the wandering.
She is thinking herself to orgasm.
lt's a time-consuming feat of concentration.
Woman : Hand up.
But finally, she's there.
Orgasm.
Her body responds exactly as if she'd physically masturbated.
Her heart races, her breathing is rapid and shallow, and her brain lights up just as it did in the first experiment.
A true orgasm generated by thought alone.
l was thinking about just the sensation of pleasure in my vagina and my entire lower region.
And then it just came to a point where l just gave myself permission to let go, and l had an orgasm.
There's women who just think about it -- don't actually do it -- just think about stimulating those parts of the body, and we see that the same parts of the body get activated if you just think about it.
And maybe this is the mechanism by which women can think themselves into orgasm.
The fact that we can think about your hand being stimulated, the hand area of the sensory cortex get activated.
Think about the clitoris being stimulated, the clitoral region gets activated.
So this is a big surprise.
Gyllenhaal : lt's hard and fast evidence that, for women, the organ most critical to attaining orgasm is the brain.
1 00 years ago, the medical community didn't even believe the female orgasm existed.
Today, cutting-edge research is revealing what an extraordinary and powerful phenomenon it is.
From the complex and sophisticated function of the clitoris to the powerful influence of the brain, it plays a role in the creation of life.
lt directs us to the healthiest fathers for our babies.
lt helps us form long-term bonds with our lovers.
And as scientists delve ever deeper into our brains, bodies, and behavior, who knows what secrets are still lurking in the mysterious wonderland of the female orgasm.