Per Medical News Today
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237976.php
“researchers from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA recorded the upsurge of oxygen utilization in a 5-minute period of brain networking activity (during an orgasm) with a fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanner.
The researchers presented their findings at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 2011, Washington D.C.”
The video can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/Xd8qeaKIacA
The MNT story continues: “The video footage shows how brain activity develops during the crescendo period, the orgasm itself, and the recovery period. It shows how unrelated brain regions come to life, reach a climax of activity, and then settling back down again.”
“The movie animation - consisting of a series of snapshots taken two seconds apart - shows how 80 different brain regions (40 on each laterality) respond. It uses colors to represent oxygen utilization levels in the brain, displayed on a spectrum from dark red, progressing to orange, yellow and finally white (highest level of activity). When orgasm is reached, nearly the entire brain becomes an illuminated yellow/white.”
"Early on in the movie, one can see that the genital area of the sensory cortex becomes active first - what the researchers say is a response to being touched in the genital area. Then the limbic system comes into action - this part of the brain is involved in long-term memory and emotions.
When the orgasm is about to arrive, the cerebellum and the frontal cortex become much more active - Komisaruk says this is due to muscle tension.
Activity reaches a peak in the hypothalamus during orgasm - oxytocin is released, a pleasure-inducing chemical that makes the uterus contract. The nucleus accumbens, a region in the brain linked to pleasure and reward, also becomes very active.
After the orgasm subsides, so does activity in all the stimulated brain regions.”
The resulting academic paper itself can be read here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ROL70Y9-Qr0J
sychology.rutgers.edu/~brk/published051106.pdf+Female+Org asm+-+Brain+Activity+FMRI&hl=en&gl= us and the British Guardian newspaper has an interview with the test subject here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/bl...ner?intcmp=239 in which she described how she practiced keeping very still for two weeks while masturbating since imaging devices prefer that their subject not move. She is 54 years old and not particularly attractive, so those seeking an orgasm of their own in the immediate future should probably look elsewhere.
This story reminded me of a 1999 Dutch experiment that managed to get a couple into an MRI machine (by taking the rolling table out) to have sex within the device and image the interior cross sectional view. That is available on the internet too:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...nside-out.html. It is a rather dark greyscale image but it does confirm that the penis assumes a “boomerang” shape during intercourse, but only if you include the considerable part that is inside the male body as the other half of the boomerang. There is a link on the page to that study as well, if you are interested.
It is encouraging to see our favorite subject get some actual research attention. I hope the researchers are prepared for the shriek-back from the always popular anti-sex league.
First fMRI Video of a Female Orgasm
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