Researching the female orgasm

Researching the female orgasm:

“The pudendal nerve is the most important nerve for making orgasms happen - it’s the one that links the genitals to the brain-firing messages of touch, pressure and sexual activity.

“We’ve learned that there’s probably no two of us that are alike when it comes to the branching of the pudendal nerve,“ Coady says. "The way the branches [of the nerve] move through the body leads to difference in sexuality, meaning what areas may be more sensitive for one woman may not be for another." 

Coady also found that each woman has a different number of nerve endings at each of the five erogenous zones in the genital area - the clitoris, the vaginal opening, the cervix, the anus and the perineum.

"This leads to why some women may be more sensitive in the clitoral area, some may be more sensitive just in the vaginal opening,” she says. And it is one reason why generic sex advice in women’s magazines is often unhelpful. “Fifty per cent may respond the way the magazine says,” Coady points out. “But then there’s going to be another bunch that - due to their anatomy, and due to the fact that nerves vary in all of us - may not respond like the magazine says.”

Another big myth has been exposed at Dr Cindy Meston’s sexual psychophysiology lab at the University of Texas at Austin.

“For years we were told, ‘Have a bubble bath, calm down, listen to relaxing music, do deep breathing exercises, chill out before sex,’” she says.“But my research shows the opposite, that you actually want to get women in an active state."So, you can run around the block with your partner and get them to chase you around the block, or watch a scary movie together, ride a rollercoaster together, even a good comedy act.”