What causes a female orgasm?
Orgasm A
series of rhythmic contractions occur in the uterus, vagina, and pelvic floor muscles. The sexual tension caused by lovemaking or self-stimulation releases, and muscles throughout the body may contract. A feeling of warmth usually emanates from the pelvis and spreads throughout the entire body.
How Women Achieve Orgasm
One of the ways women can experience orgasm is through a goal-oriented four-step process first described by the
sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson decades ago.
1. Excitement In this state of desire or arousal, the woman initiates or agrees to
sex, and as it commences she finds herself focusing mainly on sexual stimuli. Blood begins to engorge the clitoris,
vagina, and nipples, and creates a full-body sexual blush. Heart rate and blood pressure increases.
Testosterone and
neurotransmitters such as
dopamine and
serotonin are involved in these processes, says Dr. Ingber.
2. Plateau Sexual tension builds as a precursor to orgasm. The outer one-third of the vagina becomes particularly engorged with blood, creating what researchers refer to as the "orgasmic platform." Focus on sexual stimuli drowns out all other sensations. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration continue to increase.
3. Orgasm A series of rhythmic contractions occur in the uterus, vagina, and
pelvic floor muscles. The sexual tension caused by lovemaking or self-stimulation releases, and muscles throughout the body may contract. A feeling of warmth usually emanates from the pelvis and spreads throughout the entire body.
4. Resolution The body relaxes, with blood flowing away from the engorged sexual organs. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration return to normal.
Different Types of Stimulation, Different Types of Orgasm
Women are blessed with bodies that are capable of experiencing orgasm in more ways than one.
Some researchers believe that there are as many as 12 types of female orgasms. The most common type is a "clitoral" orgasm
Sensory Pathways, Stimulation, and Orgasm Generation
Women also have been able to have orgasms through stimulation of the breasts or other parts of the body, or through the use of sexual imagery without any touch at all. Researchers have even found a nerve pathway outside the spinal cord, through the sensory vagus nerve, that will lead a woman to experience orgasm through sensations transmitted directly to the brain. "There are many nerve pathways that are responsible for the experience of orgasm in women,"