It's no big secret that female orgasms can be mind-meltingly amazing. Indeed, biologically speaking, us ladies lucked out. As we've previously discussed, our lovely ladyparts are designed for multiple orgasms. Plus, our clits, the only body part ever designed solely for sexual pleasure, contain over 8,000 nerve endings. Oh, and some of us can even ejaculate.
As if that weren't enough, we now have even more scientific evidence that the Big O is awesome.
Behavioral neurologist and Rutgers University professor Barry Komisaruk has dedicated his illustrious career to discover a connection between neurons and perceived consciousness, and in doing so, has handily unlocked a couple mysteries of the female orgasm. Ladies, get ready to feel even better about getting off.
Orgasms dull pain
According to Komisaruk, female brains look like "a sunset" while in the throes of an orgasm. Apparently, every brain region ignites in a cacophony of ecstasy, which in turn dulls pain sensations. After years of testing first on rats and then on actual human females, Komisaruk found that vaginal stimulation more than doubled the pain threshold in all participants.
Even paralyzed women can experience orgasms
Say what? Komisaruk tested women with different types of spinal cord injuries and found that, regardless of severity, they still experienced sexual pleasure...as evidenced by their stimulated brain activity and blissed-out O faces (side note: how weird would it be to participate in an experiment like this?)
Alas, we don't have a perfect understanding of our sexuality just yet. But as we continue to understand and embrace the power of female sexuality, all this research is a step in the right direction. In addition to Komisaruk's findings, for instance, it's also been posited that women can orgasm by thinking, no touching necessary. And we really like the idea of where that research could lead.
As the science gets sorted out, all we can say for sure is that we feel damn lucky to have such biologically phenomenal bodies. Now, off to enjoy some #SunsetBrain.
Image: Yep, we're lucky. Courtesy of, ThinkStock
