Orgasmic Science

Orgasm is a physiological response caused by the autonomic nervous system over which we have no conscious control. It is essentially the contraction of pelvic and abdominal muscles initiated by a spinal reflex caused by sexual stimulation. But what does that even mean? We understand the mechanism but why does it happen? Unless you believe in God and consider orgasm some kind of "gift" to us, then we have a lot to discuss, kids. 

So lets go back to the beginning, when do orgasms begin?Believe it or not, male fetuses have been observed to masturbate in the womb shortly after the development of both spinal nerves and fingers. This poses the idea that the experience is instinctive and not learned. 

For men, evolutionarily speaking, orgasms are beneficial to the species. They encourage reproduction through pleasure and are associated with the ejaculation of sperm. Strangely enough, women are also able to experience orgasms despite little evolutionary reason for this. I'm sorry, ladies, but your pleasure does not increase fecundity. So why do women have orgasms then? 

For quite some time, a popular theory circulated suggesting that orgasmic contractions of the uterus are designed to suck up sperm from the vagina, but this has since been proven fictitious. 

No one, as of yet, has a decisive answer to my question, but a likely possibility is that female orgasm is an evolutionary accident caused by the shared developmental pathways in the uterus between males and females, similar to that of nipples in men. Women need nipples to supply milk to their young, but men have them, too. They may not give milk, but like female nipples they can be sexually stimulated. 

Nipples aren't the only thing that can cause sexual stimulation, or even orgasm. Paraplegics often develop a sexually sensitive area above the site of their injury. One heavily-researched woman in the US even orgasmed when cleaning her teeth. 

So what happens to our brains during orgasm? A brain scanning study conducted recently by the University of Groningen demonstrated that areas of women's brains literally switch off during orgasm, including those involved in emotion and caution (remember oxytocin?). The effect existed in men, but to a lesser degree, perhaps because male orgasms are shorter (though more regular). 

It is a common misconception (though not amongst lesbians!) that the female orgasm is designed to happen during heterosexual sex. Data actually shows that while many women struggle to climax during heterosexual penetrative sex, they can usually orgasm via direct clitoral stimulation. In the case of lesbians, both penetration and clitoral stimulation, on average, cause greater sexual arousal than in heterosexual females. Take that!

The National Health Service in the UK estimates that people who have more than two orgasms a week and twice as likely to live to their 60's and that regular sex improves cardiovascular health in teenagers. It has even been suggested that orgasms can be a cure for hiccups. I have an exam on Monday... So till next time, kids, and remember that orgasms are good for many things.

This is Z, signing out.