Morning Crush: Now You’ll Know When She’s Faking It

Rutgers University Professor Barry Komisaruk is studying orgasms to try to help people that can’t have an orgasm. Using a fMRI machine, Komisaruk took a series of images of the brain during an orgasm and made a 3D video of it happening.

Researchers monitored a woman’s brain as she lay in a (fMRI) scanner and stimulated herself. The animation uses different colors through the process, starting with dark red and progresses through orange and yellow to white at the peak levels of activity.

The Uk Guardian explains what happens:

As the animation plays, activity first builds up in the genital area of the sensory cortex, a response to being touched in that region. Activity then spreads to the limbic system, a collection of brain structures involved in emotions and long-term memory.

As the orgasm arrives, activity shoots up in two parts of the brain called the cerebellum and the frontal cortex, perhaps because of greater muscle tension. During orgasm, activity reaches a peak in the hypothalamus, which releases a chemical called oxytocin that causes pleasurable sensations and stimulates the uterus to contract. Activity also peaks in the nucleus accumbens, an area linked to reward and pleasure.

After orgasm, the activity in all these regions gradually calms down.

Now off to a smoke break, enjoy the video.