The female orgasm has some characteristics of its own that differentiate it from the male. Also, with ejaculation not always present, it is difficult for many men to guess when their partner has experienced an orgasm. More than a response located in the pelvis, it is a total response of the body. In addition, we know that in them the imagination is very directly related to pleasure, and the brain has a lot to do with the female orgasm.
At the moment of orgasm, the woman’s body provides some clues to the most expert lover because in those minutes a series of contractions occur in the uterus and the sphincter. Also, it should be remembered that, contrary to what many people think, every woman has the physical ability to experience orgasms.
However, it wasn’t until a few years ago that neuroscience has shed some light on bedroom secrets.
Analyzing cerebral blood flow
What happens in a woman’s brain when she is experiencing an orgasm? The University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, has carried out several experiments that have delved into the keys to this process. Thanks to the positron emission tomography technique, they have analyzed the cerebral blood flow of a group of women while reaching orgasm, verifying that there was a decrease in blood flow in the lateral orbitofrontal area of the left side of the brain. Interestingly, this pattern was not observed when participants were asked to fake an orgasm, which would associate this moment with uninhibited behavior upon climax.
But, are their orgasms the same at the brain level?
Later work by the same group of researchers found that, although there is a similar pattern in the response of the brains of men and women, there also appear to be differences. In women, a high activation of the insula was observed, an area related, among other things, to the processing of bodily sensations and empathy, and which has been associated with the quality of female orgasms. In men, the differential area of greatest activation was the periaqueductal gray matter, an area related to the control of sexual activity and which, according to the authors, could explain the release of dopamine after male orgasm.
What is the female orgasm for?
In men, it is very clear that orgasm has a reproductive function, since ejaculation is necessary to introduce sperm into the female vagina. In women, however, the relationship is not so clear, since it is possible to get pregnant without having to experience an orgasm.
A study published in the Journal of Molecular and Developmental Evolution did suggest, however, that the female orgasm could also have a relationship with reproduction. According to the authors, in some species of mammals that ovulate only after copulation, the hormones of orgasms would be precisely those responsible for inducing this production of eggs.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain
