What Happens to THE Brain When Orgasm

Brain plays a major role to achieve an orgasm that is the body sends messages to the brain without the nerves that send impulses to the spinal cord and brain, then the orgasm would not be possible.

Same with other parts of the body, genital area also contains many nerves that can transmit information to the brain to tell the sensations being experienced. This also explains why the sensation of orgasm is different because it depends on which area is touched and the nerves involved.

All genitalia have a large nerve endings that will eventually connect to the large nerves to the spinal cord.

As quoted from HowStuffWorks, there are several nerves that are responsible to stimuli in the genital area, namely:

1. Hypogastric nerve that serves to transmit stimuli from the cervix in women and of prostate in men.
2. Pelvic nerves that transmit function of vaginal stimulation in women and of the rectum in men.
3. Pudendal nerve that serves to transmit stimulation of the clitoris in women and the scrotum in men.
4. The vagus nerve which functions to transmit stimuli from the cervix, uterus and vagina.

Due to sexual arousal, then the different regions of the brain will receive all this information and allow for an orgasm and a very pleasant sensation.

In the late 1990’s, scientists from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands to do some research to determine brain activity during sexual stimulation. The research team used PET scans to observe the various regions of the brain that turns on and off during sexual activity. Was found not too much difference between men and women.

“The area behind the left eye the brain called the lateral orbitofrontal cortex will shut down during orgasm. This is a reasonable area and control behavior, so if people have an orgasm would lose control,” said Janniko R. Georgiadis, one of the researchers.

Meanwhile, according to Dr. Gert Holstege brain of a person who’s having an orgasm about 95 percent the same as when people use heroin.

But there are some differences encountered. When a woman have sex, part of the brain stem called the eriaqueductal gray (PAG) is activated which serves to control or resist the pleasure response. Besides the female brain also showed decreased activity in the amygdala and hippocampus, which is associated with fear and anxiety.

Researchers argue that these differences are because women have more need to feel safe and relaxed in enjoying sex. And also cortical regions associated with pain activated in women, it does show no clear relationship between pain and pleasure.

Studies have also shown although women can cheat their partners in terms of achieving orgasm, but his brain continued to show the truth, the scans showed no brain activity was similar in women who experience real orgasms.

Meanwhile there are also people who could feel the orgasm but not from genital stimulation such as touching the nipple. Researchers believe that the sensations that are sent from nipple stimulation will provide the same information by stimulation of the genitals